Among the Strong
Nov. 21st, 2025 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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marysuevirusTitle: Among the Strong
Chapter Fifty Six: Looking for Clues
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
She’d been on the ground less than a minute when a black Mini Cooper rolled across the cracked tarmac of what had once been a secret military installation. She hadn’t bothered to ask Clint which military it had belonged to and he hadn’t volunteered any information. She’d let it go since she kind of felt like he’d put his neck out enough for her by getting her the information she’d asked for. And the quinjet he’d acquired for her so she could get to Europe without having to risk a commercial flight. She might have been able to disguise herself and hide from the cameras, but she’d have had a hell of a time doing the same with TJ and Emilia.
She watched through the windshield of the quinjet as the Mini came through the opened hangar door and kind of lurched to a stop several feet away. A glance showed her that both TJ and Emilia were still sleeping. TJ had, at first, been excited by going on a plane. But the endless expanse of ocean had bored her soon enough and, after eating the sandwich and snacks Haley had gotten from a bodega before heading for the location where Clint had left transport for them, TJ had curled up in her seat and gone to sleep. Offering up a prayer to whatever deity chose to listen that all would go smoothly, she undid her seat belt and exited the jet.
She knew the man who exited the Mini, had met him a time or two during some conference or another. Pete Wisdom looked as if he’d just rolled out of bed, with a head of messy black hair and a touch of stubble on his chin. He was decked out in a trench coat that she felt certain hid a weapon or two. Not that she cared, because he’d not only arrived on time but he also carried two tall paper cups with him. The logo stamped upon them told her he’d honored her request of coffee. Maybe this meeting wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Especially when the desire to get moving and find Dare itched under her skin like a living, breathing thing.
“Your coffee, luv. Exactly as you requested,” Pete said, offering one of the cups to her when she finally stopped before him. Haley took it with a hint of a smile, then took a careful sip. It was still hot, and the caffeine felt like exactly what she’d needed. She heaved a faint sigh and indulged in another drink.
“Thank you, Pete. I haven’t had coffee in hours,” she responded, letting the heat from the brew seep into her hands through the paper of the cup. After a third sip, she leveled a look on him. “Did you bring me the information I asked for?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Always business with you, yeah?” he asked. But he turned back to the Mini and opened the door, then leaned in to grab something sitting on the seat. The file folder he held was not as thick as she’d hoped it would be, but it was still thicker than the one Clint had brought to her. Haley took it from him, using the roof of the Mini as a place to leave her coffee. Then she started leafing through the contents of the file.
“Took a bit of work to get all of the information you wanted without raising suspicions. You know the powers that be are always curious about the doings of the X-Men,” Pete informed her. She could see from the corner of her eye that he was watching her intently. Maybe waiting for her to tell him why she’d needed this information. He was going to be waiting a long damn time if that was the case. She had no intention of telling him anything that he didn’t already know.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. She just trusted him less than she trusted Clint. Barton knew Dare, even if only a tiny bit, and he was smart enough to understand the things Haley hadn’t given voice to. She also knew that he was capable of reading far deeper between the lines than most people would expect. So he had a damn good idea why she’d wanted information. And she’d given him as much as she could without going into great detail. Wisdom, on the other hand, had never met Dare and didn’t know her personally. Haley wasn’t sure how much she could safely disclose about Dare and her past. And there was also the fact that he worked for MI6, which was always keen, as he’d just reminded her, to know what the X-Men were up to.
So any information that she’d deemed too personal or important to share had been kept carefully under wraps. Pete knew she was looking for a friend who might or might not be in trouble. It was as much as she’d felt comfortable telling him.
“I appreciate the effort, Pete,” she responded, taking her time with the information he’d gathered. There were a handful of itineraries like the ones Clint’s contact had found. And this time, there were tickets for trains. A lot of tickets for the train going just about everywhere. For a moment, Haley felt a sense of pride in the way Dare had obviously put in the work. She very much did not want to be found and she’d created a trail a hundred miles long and growing all in an effort to make it harder for anyone trying to find her to actually do so. She’d chosen locations in France, England, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Italy, Spain, and so many more. But the pride was short lived because that made Haley’s job so much harder. She was going to have to pair what she knew of Dare to the information she’d received from both Clint and Pete and try to determine just where the other woman had gone.
That thought in mind, Haley went back to the file and the information it contained. Pete had also included some photos. There weren’t quite as many as Clint’s contact had managed to find, and some of them were images she’d already seen. But there were a few new ones that seemed to put Dare in Switzerland and Portugal and even Ukraine. Haley studied all of it, the itineraries and the photos, with a sharp eye, trying to find that one thing that stood out from the rest that would give her a better idea as to where Dare had gone. The problem was, there really wasn’t any clear destination based on what Pete had brought to her. Everything was very convoluted and confusing. Intentionally so. Damn it, she was going to have to spare time she didn’t really have to sit down and go over everything with a fine tooth comb.
Was Dare working with someone? Was that why it was so hard to find a clue in what she had? Did she have her own network of contacts she could call upon? Haley didn’t think so. She hadn’t been very interested in leading a team until Paris and Doom. That thought, the memory of everything that had happened, gave Haley pause. Was it possible Doom had gotten a hold of Dare when she’d landed in Europe? Maybe he’d heard about it and sent someone to grab her. Haley had no doubt he was intent on revenge. That was kind of Doom’s thing. And Dare had not only put a huge hole in his new castle. She’d hurt him. Badly. He would definitely be gunning for her.
She studied all of the itineraries again. It didn’t seem plausible that Dare would go to Hungary. Not when it would take her that close to Latveria and Doom. She felt certain that Hungary was a ruse. Dare likely expected Logan to go looking for her. Possibly even Remy. She’d probably chosen Hungary because Logan probably wouldn’t think it to be a ruse. Haley had her doubts that either of them fully knew what had happened in Doomstadt. Because Dare had done what she always did. She’d kept the whole thing to herself. She’d never really been good at talking about herself. And definitely not about her accomplishments.
No. Hungary was off the list. But that left every other country in Europe open. Haley was still fairly certain that Dare had come to London. She just couldn’t be certain that Dare had stayed in London. Maybe she’d left right away and gone to one of the Mediterranean countries. It would be easy for her to get lost in a tourist’s paradise. No one would expect her to go someplace where the sun shone bright and warm and the ocean was the most amazing shade of blue that existed. Haley might have to wander south and check it out.
She was ready to turn to the photos and study them in depth when a noise cut into her concentration. A moment later, she realized that it was Emilia. The little one had woken and started crying. Haley closed the file and reached for her coffee. She cast a look at her companion, who seemed to be eyeing the quinjet with undisguised curiosity. “Wait here, Pete. I’ll be right back,” she told him and then turned for the quinjet’s extended ramp.
When she made it up into the interior of the jet, it was to find that TJ was fully in Big Sister mode and was trying her best to rock Emilia’s car seat. The only problem was it was still belted into the seat so it didn’t move very well. There was a pacifier and a tiny stuffed puppy laying in Emilia’s lap. Obviously, Big Sister TJ had tried soothing her baby sister with methods she’d seen her mother use. A soft smile touched Haley’s lips a moment, then she was on her way over to help her daughter.
“Mama,” TJ chirped when she saw Haley coming. “`Melia crying.”
“I hear that, sweetheart,” Haley responded. She made quick work of the buckles holding Emilia in her seat, then lifted her daughter up to rock her while she did a diaper check. “Thank you for trying to make her feel better. I’m sure Emilia appreciates that you gave her the things she likes most.”
“It didn’ work,” TJ observed, eyes wide as she watched her mother retrieve the baby bag with all of the necessary supplies required for a successful diaper change. With one hand, she pulled the zipper back. Then she pulled a diaper, wipes, powder, and the changing mat from the interior. TJ was there to lay the mat out on the floor by Haley’s knees, her little hands smoothing it out with care.
“It did not. But the important thing is that you tried,” Haley said, settling Emilia on the mat. Deft hands worked the snaps on the onesie that Emilia wore, giving her access to the diaper underneath it. It took no time to pull the tabs and peel the diaper back. Half a minute later, Emilia was wearing a dry diaper and her onesie had been done back up. Haley picked her up and held her close. Logic told her that it was time to feed Emilia, so she needed to finish up with Pete and get him gone. It would probably be a good idea for her to get them some more food. She needed to eat so that she could start stringing clues together. And TJ needed a meal simply because she was growing.
“Mama,” TJ said, her voice filled with curiosity. One tiny finger pointed past Haley, toward the back of the jet. “Who zat?” She turned to face the back of the jet and muttered under her breath about idiots and simple instructions.
“Cute kid. You know, if you squint at the baby just right, she looks like Cy…” Pete’s words trailed off when Haley rose and turned to glare at him.
“Not another word, Pete,” Haley warned. She moved to the car seat and put Emilia back in it. The belt clicked into place with a practiced motion. Then she turned to face Pete again. For a moment, a smirk lingered on Pete’s face and she saw in his eyes the fact that he was going to continue on. Then he got a good look at the expression she wore and the desire to be a prick faded into the background. “Do you have any other information for me? Anything that could give me a place to start looking?”
“Sorry, luv. Everything I have for you is in that file.” Pete pointed at the file folder Haley had settled on one of the empty seats. He actually sounded like he was sorry. The look on his face seemed to be apologetic. “Your friend is either very lucky that she didn’t get caught more on film or she’s very smart. And I hope you find her.”
Haley was not going to give in to tears just because Pete Wisdom was being nice to her. She could do that later, after she found Dare and throttled the life out of her. “Thanks, Pete. For everything,” she replied. She couldn’t imagine what kind of effort had been required for him to get this for her without getting caught.
“You’re welcome, luv. I only wish I could have done more for you,” he replied. He sounded like he genuinely meant it. Haley stared at him a moment, then glanced to where TJ stood watching them. No doubt she was hungry. The food from the bodega had to have given out a while ago.
Haley gave Pete her best brilliant smile. “Well, there is one more thing.”
~*~*~*~*~
The sun overhead was high in the sky, shining hot and bright over the city. Light and heat bounced off the concrete of the buildings and the pavement, which left the air simmering with a combination of that same intense heat and the stickiness of humidity. Any other time, it would be a welcome respite from the cold that came with the fall and winter months in the northern part of the country. Today, it was no such thing. Because he knew, as he wiped a few drops of sweat from his brow, that they would not find their quarry here. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that they’d find any sign of her having been here.
The salty scent of the ocean wafted past on a faint breeze and tickled his nose in an effort to convince him to spend some time at its shore, soaking up the sun. As if he would put aside his duty for a stolen moment of peace. There was no time for peace. There was too much in his head to allow that. Too much noise. Too much worry. Too much fear. Too much guilt.
The creak of hinges and the jingle of a bell pulled him from the pit his thoughts were plummeting into. Logan stepped out of the unassuming looking building into which he’d disappeared earlier and onto the sidewalk, a look of disgust on his face. Which said he hadn’t had any luck talking to his contact. Remy could have told him that. There was no way Dare would have ever come to Miami. It was too bright. Too sunny. Too hot. Too much for her. After all these years, Logan should know that Dare preferred the quiet and shadows to the brilliance of public life and the spotlight. And no matter what anyone thought, Dare would stand out here. Hell, she’d stand out where ever she went. Because there was something about the way she carried herself and the look in her eyes that drew people’s attention. “You contact don’ have any information,” Remy said flatly.
Logan shook his head. “Ain’t heard nothin’ about someone matching Dare’s description. And nothin’ about a baby with red on black eyes,” he confirmed. The disgust on his face echoed in the words he spoke.
Frustration boiled up inside of Remy. He’d told Logan that this was a wild goose chase. He’d told the other man that it was pointless to keep drifting from one city to the next in the hopes that they’d find a clue. In the past few days, they’d gone from New York City to Philadelphia to Norfolk to Atlanta. And now they were in Miami, as if Dare would ever get anywhere near someplace so bright. As if she’d be stupid enough to follow a path down the coast. A path that was easily traced. “Don’ I tell you she don’ come here?” Remy demanded, his anger making his voice sharp. Logan shot him a glare.
“I don’t see ya comin’ up with any answers,” he retorted. His tone said he was on edge. Possibly as much as Remy was. Remy knew he shouldn’t take his emotional state out on Logan. This was no doubt just as hard for him as it was for Remy. After all, Logan had lived with Dare for more than a decade. They had children together. This was no doubt extremely difficult for him, too. “Why are ya even here, kid?” The man’s voice was a low growl filled with the emotions to which he would otherwise never give voice.
“You know why,” Remy responded. The look Logan shot him suggested he wasn’t buying Remy’s claims that the love he had for Dare was the forever and after kind.
“You keep claimin’ you love her. But I ain’t seen any real sign,” Logan accused. He shot a glare Remy’s way before speaking again. “Hell, you had a chance with her and ya fucked that up.”
Of course he’d go back to that disastrous threesome. Logan had never let go of the suspicion that Remy had done something that night. Something that had driven Dare out of his bed and into Logan’s. Even though Remy knew that Dare had told Logan, more than once, that it had been her own doing. Had she never told him she’d left because she’d known Morgan was in love with Remy? He shot Logan a scowl, his fingers itching to have a card or two between them. “You always gon’ see me as de one who do Dare wrong,” he accused.
“If the shoe fits, boy,” Logan returned.
“Dare leave dat night because she see how much Morgan love me,” Remy shot back. He did nothing to keep the emotions from his voice. “She sacrifice her happiness for her best friend. But maybe you don’ know dat. Maybe you don’ know she give up everyt’ing for someone else. I still wonder why she leave me and run to you.”
“Mebbe because ya didn’t cherish her when ya had her,” Logan responded. It was harsh and cruel, even if it was the truth. And it made Remy’s heart twist in his chest a little. He should have told her way back then that their relationship wasn’t just so he could have sex with her. He was going to spend a lifetime, possibly more, making that up to her. The reminder of his short comings saw him shoot Logan a look meant to make the man feel small and insignificant.
“Like you cherish her now?”
Remy’s words earned him a growl. It looked like he’d scored a hit with that one. The other man glared at him a moment, then turned and stalked a few steps up the sidewalk. One hand came up and raked through wiry hair that was already a mess. Silence built between them, simmering like the heat waves rising up off the pavement. Tempers were short and worry gnawed at reason. Remy shouldn’t have provoked the Wolverine, but they’d found a whole metric fuckton of nothing. And the fear and worry that Sinister would find Dare before they did, that Sinister would take Dare and Petra before they could find them, ate at his brain almost constantly. Remy sighed and ran his hands through his own hair. They needed to come up with a better plan to find Dare and Petra before the two of them lost their tempers and tried to kill one another.
“Look, mon ami,” Remy began, but Logan turned and brought Remy’s apology to a halt. The look in his eyes, the expression on his face… Both of them said that Logan was lost and he didn’t know how to fix that. This wasn’t a problem he could win by fighting. Unsheathing his claws wouldn’t get him anywhere. He didn’t know what to do and he didn’t like it one bit.
“I can’t lose her, Rem,” Logan said quietly. There was a wealth of emotion in his voice, which was a surprise because he was normally fairly stoic.
“You not gon’ lose her, Logan. We not gon’ let dat happen,” Remy assured him. Hell, he was assuring himself. Because he honestly felt as lost as Logan did. His brain went back to that disastrous meeting with Jehnna and how it had all played out. He was still angry beyond reason that Jehnna had so casually and carelessly been cruel to women she’d willingly called friends and family. He’d wanted to slap her for it then. The urge hadn’t died any with distance and time between them.
Remy forced himself to put Jehnna’s words from his mind. Jean had made it sound like Jehnna didn’t really know or understand what she was saying. That Jehnna had been acting out because she’d been full of emotions and thoughts and so many other things that she hadn’t known how to process. And he was no better. He’d spent the past few days acting more on emotions than on his instincts and his own experiences. Worry and fear about what might happen had clouded his every thought and action. And that had seen him almost picking a fight with Logan.
He knew the other man was doing the best he could with the information they had. But Logan was thinking like a hunter. Follow the tracks and the clues left behind for long enough and they would lead him to his prey. The problem was that Dare wasn’t thinking like prey. She wasn’t trying to get away. She was simply trying to hide. It was an instinct that came from spending any amount of time living on the streets. The instinct to protect oneself. In any and all ways necessary. Dare wasn’t running from them. She was trying to hide and protect herself. Hadn’t Remy been forced to do that himself at one time or another?
He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Logan’s cell phone ringing. Remy watched as the other man pulled the slim device from his pocket. Very few people called him. Dare had always been the main person. Dee called him when she needed something. And she had set her own ringtone, a song that Remy knew made Logan cringe. The electronic sound wasn’t making Logan cringe. Which meant that the call was likely from Scott, checking in to see if they had any news.
Remy tuned it out. The decision had been made, before they’d left, that the two sets of men would keep in contact with one another during their searches. Since Haley and Dare’s trails both converged time and again, they’d decided to split the search and share what information they found along the way. Except each call had been the same. He and Logan hadn’t been able to discover anything. And Johnny and Scott were having the same issue. No one had seen or heard from Dare. Whichever contact they tapped for help came up without a shred of anything useful. Almost as if the two women had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.
That thought wanted to overwhelm Remy. It had tried each and every time he’d had it. As with the other times, he pushed it back again. Shoved it into a corner of his mind and did his best to center himself. Worry edged the fragile bit of peace he was able to gain. Not just for Dare and their child. For Haley and her children, too. Haley was a good friend. She and her children were part of the extended family Remy had crafted for himself. He wasn’t about to leave her out there, alone and defenseless. Not with Sinister on the loose. Not with Apocalypse’s horsemen part of the equation. Haley was strong and capable of defending herself. But with two young children in her care, that put her at a disadvantage.
But the thought that they’d disappeared wouldn’t let him be. It kept nibbling at a corner of his brain, kept trying to suck him back into the whirlpool of fear that had lived there for days. He refused to believe that Sinister had taken them. There was no way he could allow himself to entertain that thought because, if it were the truth, they’d never get Dare back. Oh, they might find her and bring her home. But she wouldn’t be Dare anymore. And what would spending more time with Sinister do to Haley?
No. It wasn’t Sinister’s doing that they couldn’t find a single clue as to where Dare or Haley had gone. The lack of a trail was because Dare knew how to cover her tracks. And Haley’s abilities as a leader gave her avenues that other people wouldn’t have. Remy could almost believe that Haley had spent time on the streets based on her ability to hide from them. It was one of the first things anyone who lived on the streets learned. His own time on the streets had taught him as much.
Unbidden, Duke’s voice echoed in his head. Deep and growling, the man had leveled one accusation after another at both Remy and Logan. And now, with time spent away from that moment, Remy’s head was clear enough to know that Duke had been right to level those accusations their way. Because they were all true. There was so much Remy could have done for Dare, as a friend, that would have helped. And he’d failed her in that respect. He’d left her floundering in a sea of trauma and distrust. No wonder she’d thought she had no choice but to run.
"You know what its like to be on the streets. You, of all people, should have offered her more than a few words. Maybe she wouldn't feel like she didn't deserve you if you'd given her more. If you'd given her a reason to trust you." Those words, in Duke’s growling voice, rose to taunt him. He did know what it was like when you were on the streets. There was no one to turn to, really. No one to rely on. No one but yourself. And you did what you had to do in order to survive. Because, if you didn’t, the streets would eat you up. No one would notice. No one would miss you. No one would even care.
Hadn’t he fought that battle? Hadn’t he been forced to confront his past when Creed had kept him caged and naked, little more than an animal to use and abuse? He knew Dare had borne witness to not only the abuse, but the resulting behaviors, too. She’d no doubt seen someone she didn’t know. And she’d never said a word about it. Maybe she’d understood that doing so would see him withdrawing from her. Maybe she’d recognized it as the survival trait it was. She’d never thought to look down upon him for it, either. Remy had spent a lifetime trying to forget those moments when he’d had no place to go. When he’d had no choice but to rely upon his own skills to see the sunrise and sunset each day.
There had been so much fear and confusion in those days. The memories of those feelings lived under his skin like ghosts trying to inhabit his body. They drove how he lived now. How he met each day with a smile and the desire to live it to the fullest. Because he knew that it could all be taken away from him in an instant. It was why he loved deeply. Why he laughed heartily. Why he savored food, good or bad. Why he took so much pride in his family and his friends. Because every one of those things were signs that he’d lived. That he’d survived. That he’d crawled through hell and come out on the other side, made into someone new.
He made a point to never forget where he’d come from. Or what he’d had to do to get from then to now. He made a point of never letting the fear control him, because that would be akin to dying. Because living on the streets, doing what he’d had to do to survive, had taught him that the only way to go forward was to live and learn and love and enjoy. To let people into his life and make them his home.
Remy didn’t know fully what Dare had done to survive on the streets. He knew she’d found some kind of safety with the gang. But that was no kind of life for a teenaged girl. Dare had been at an age where she’d needed someone who loved her without any kind of qualifiers. Without any judgement. Without anything that would make her think she had to toe an imaginary line in order to be worthy of affection and care. She’d needed safety and stability. Neither of which she’d actually gotten. Things like that made one secretive, made one hold tight to emotions and desires.
He knew about the circumstances that had brought Dare to the school. Of course he did. Everyone on staff had been made aware of the fire. And the people who had died. And the fact that Dare had apparently been responsible for some of those deaths. He knew how those kinds of things wore on one’s emotional state. Hell, he’d seen it on Dare in the way she’d never looked upon anyone but Morgan with trust. She’d already been traumatized when she’d stepped through the main doors. And Remy had known without having to ask how she’d gotten there. He should have offered her a hand then, given her something upon which to start building the foundations of her safety and trust.
He’d failed her then. And he’d just kept on failing her. Because he’d never asked questions. Not when they’d so briefly been a couple. Not when Creed had taken them. And certainly not when he and Logan had sprung the idea of the foursome on her. Of course she’d given the appearance of knowing what was going on. Of understanding the situation. She’d done a damn fine job of making everyone think that she knew what she was getting into by agreeing to the foursome. He should have known better. Hadn’t he seen first hand how she’d reacted to the threesome she’d had with him and Morgan?
A snort of disgust pulled him from his thoughts to find Logan was tucking the phone back into his pocket. The look on his face, the way he shoved the phone so forcibly into his back pocket, told Remy all he needed to know. “Dey not havin’ any luck, either,” he said softly.
“They ain’t found a damn thing,” Logan replied. “Summers said its like Haley just up and disappeared.”
There was that word again. Remy frowned, almost letting the notion that Sinister had found them take control again. But he put it aside as that nibble he felt earlier turned into a full bite, a painful jolt that jarred his thoughts off into another direction altogether. “Maybe it what dey want us to think,” he said slowly, his tongue tasting the words for truth as they came to him.
“How’s that?” Logan asked. He sounded interested.
“Keep t’inkin’ about Dare. How she live on de streets. How we don’ know how she survive it,” Remy began. The thoughts hadn’t solidified yet, so he wasn’t sure what he was getting at yet. But he let the words keep flowing, certain they’d take him to the right conclusion. “We know she live wit’ de gang. But we don’t know what she learn from dem. What she do wit’ dem.”
“She never wanted ta talk about it,” Logan replied.
Remy nodded, letting his gaze settle on the horizon in the distance. “It de same wit’ me. You live on de streets, you do t’ings you don’ want to do just to find a meal. To find a bed. To make it to de next day. Dere no telling what Dare had to do.” Remy frowned and brought his gaze back to Logan. “We don’ want to force her to talk about it. Maybe we should have.”
“Ain’t sure I know what yer getting’ at, Rem,” Logan told him, his tone suggesting he didn’t see how this was important at the moment.
“Dare usin’ skills she learn on de streets to hide from us. Dis not’ing to do wit’ her powers. Dis somet’ing she know how to do on her own.”
Logan stared a minute or two, then cursed and shook his head. “Yer sayin’ that we’re followin’ a false trail. And that Dare meant for us to do so,” he muttered. Then he stared at Remy and frowned. “You’re also saying that we didn’t communicate with her the way we should have. Son of a bitch. How is it we didn’t see this shit, but my twelve year old daughter did?”
“Because Dee smart. Like her mama,” Remy replied without softening the blow. And without a hint of remorse.
“So if what yer sayin’ is right, how does that help us find Dare? That just makes it goddamn harder,” Logan grunted.
Remy offered him a smile. “Den it a good t’ing I know how to survive on de streets. Dat gon’ help us.” He motioned toward the rented vehicle parked at the curb. It was an SUV, shiny and new with all kinds of toys. Remy tugged the keys from his pocket and started toward it.
“Don’t give us a place to look,” Logan returned. But he was following.
“No. It don’. Dat why we goin’ to New Orleans.” Remy got in and turned the engine over. He waited until Logan was in the passenger’s seat before he turned on the air conditioning.
“What’s in New Orleans?” the other man asked warily.
“You see. Trust dis ol’ Cajun.”
~*~*~*~*~
The suite was quiet. In fact, it was so quiet that it was on the verge of driving her insane. Morgan almost wanted to wake Kayla up in order to have someone other than herself in the room with her. But the baby had been cranky lately. As if she knew that her aunts were missing. Or maybe it was to do with the fact that Warren barely spent time with the two of them. He was caught between trying to help figure out where Dare and Haley had gotten to and trying to ensure Jean was helping Jehnna the way she’d said she would. Morgan didn’t understand that one, but she let it go. Warren hadn’t looked very much like he was willing to answer any questions about Jean and Jehnna at the moment.
To make matters worse, Morgan hadn’t seen Faye since that day in the conference room. She still couldn’t believe Faye wasn’t going to help them find Dare. That didn’t seem right. She’d always been Dare’s guardian angel, had always done her best to protect the other woman. Hell, she was the one who had told Morgan, with absolute certainty, that Dare would come into their life. Morgan couldn’t understand why she’d choose now to abstain from watching over Dare.
“I never said I was abstaining from watching over Dare. I said I wasn’t going to tell Logan, or anyone else, where she is. There is a big difference,” Faye’s voice filled the room behind her. It prompted Morgan to whirl and face the other woman. Faye looked… different. Her face didn’t seem quite right. And her eyes were alien. She stood a good distance away, her arms crossed over her chest. And she was giving Morgan a look that suggested she was going to be difficult. Again.
“But why? Why not tell us where she is so we can go get her and bring her back home. She isn’t safe out there and she needs me,” Morgan replied. There might have been a hint of a whine in her voice. There was a lot of a plea in it. A plea that didn’t seem to touch Faye.
“Because Dare needs to find herself. And she needs to decide what she wants her life to be. Who she wants to have in it,” Faye replied, not an ounce of anything other than reproach in her voice. “Which I believe I told you before.”
“You did. And you didn’t bother to explain it. You just did what you always do when things are uncomfortable for you and you disappeared. This is the first I’ve seen you in days,” Morgan accused. She couldn’t quite help the note of pain and accusation that accompanied her words.
“What is there to explain? Dare needs to find herself. And you, Logan, and Remy need to figure out what it is you want from Dare.” Faye sounded bored. Worse, Morgan could sense the stubbornness in her twin. It was strong and absolute. She couldn’t remember a time when Faye had been this stubborn about things. About anything. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t ever remember Faye as anything other than playful and puckish. Abrupt, childish, and silly.
“She’s my friend,” Morgan responded. It should have been more than enough of an explanation. But Faye’s face took on a look of disbelief, making Morgan wonder what was so hard to believe about what she’d said.
“Do you even know what that means, Morgan?” Faye asked. Morgan rolled her eyes. She thought the statement had been pretty self explanatory. “Because I don’t think you do.”
“Oh, yeah?” Morgan’s voice may have come out a little harsher than she’d meant it to, but she’d never dealt with this version of Faye. She did not like it one bit. “Why don’t you explain it to me, then? Since you seem to know everything.”
It was Faye’s turn to roll her eyes. But she moved closer. Morgan found herself caught in the way Faye moved. Because it didn’t look human at all. And she suddenly felt like prey, frozen in fear because the big predator was after her. It honestly felt like she was being hunted. The spell or whatever it was snapped when Faye stood before her. And she looked normal, the way she’d looked to Morgan every day of her life since Faye had shown up in Morgan’s life. But there was anger on her face, burning in her eyes, and it made Morgan want to step back. Because she was reminded of the way she’d looked when Morgan had begged her to quit punishing Creed all those years ago.
“How do you treat Dare?” Faye asked, throwing Morgan for a loop. She wasn’t expecting the question and she didn’t see what it had to do with the discussion of friends and friendship. Morgan frowned and tried to figure out if it was some kind of trick question. The problem was, Faye didn’t sound like she was in a joking mood. And Morgan was at a loss to see how it could be anything but an honest, serious question.
“What do you mean?” Morgan asked her twin, her confusion about the question heavy in her voice.
“I quite literally mean it as I asked it. How do you treat Dare?” Faye shot the question at her again. This time, though, she frowned at Morgan. “Do you ask her for her opinion on important matters? Do you go out of your way to visit with her every day? Talk to her every day? Do you spend time with her even though you don’t have time to spare? Or do you only seek her out when you need something? Only talk to her when it suits your purposes? Do you see her as an extension of yourself? Or as a tool to be used when things aren’t going quite your way?”
“You know that I don’t see Dare as a tool!” Morgan declared hotly. She shot Faye a dark look. “And its unfair of you to imply I do!”
“You knew she was drowning in all of the trauma she’s experienced,” Faye countered, her voice never wavering in volume. “And you did nothing. You let her run from the safety of her home and into the arms of strangers without ever once doing anything to help.”
“I didn’t know how to approach the professor for help. I thought he’d tell me I imagined all of it. That he’d make you and Dare both go away!” Morgan told her. She’d lived with that fear from the moment she’d stepped through the school’s doors. To be honest, there were times when she still felt that fear. Like now. Morgan pushed the fear aside and focused on the figure before her. “But when I saw the vision of that last fire, I knew I had to do something.”
“Only you didn’t do it. Did you, Morgan? I was the one who put the professor onto Dare’s need for help. I’m the one who put my neck on the line to help your friend,” Faye returned. The last word of the last sentence was said with all of the disbelief Faye could put into it. As if she was questioning whether that was the truth or not. There was a stab of pain near Morgan’s heart. Faye had never treated her like this before. What had changed so drastically that she was doing so now? “Of the two of us, I’m the one who has constantly, consistently, been there for Dare. I’m the one who did what I could to help her. What did you do?”
Morgan blinked. She didn’t understand why Faye was being so cruel. Why she was turning against her. None of this conversation made sense.
“What did you do for her, Morgan?” Faye repeated. “Once she was here at the school
“I was there with Logan when Creed took her and Remy,” Morgan insisted.
“You were. And so was I,” Faye replied. She didn’t seem impressed with that answer. She turned her back toward Morgan, paced across the floor before turning back to face her again. There was a look on her face Morgan had a hard time reading. It looked like sadness. And despair. Possibly other things. Those weren’t emotions Morgan was used to seeing on Faye’s face. It made her wonder if Faye saw something or knew something that Morgan didn’t. “I was with her for the worst of what Creed did to her, whether she knew it or not. I was with her when her mind started to slip away. I was with her when Remy tried desperately to keep her here, to keep her alive. I am the reason you know what happened to her. To them. And I am the reason that they didn’t have to live with your desperation. With how you were slowly fading away in the face of their loss. I am so much more than you think I am.”
Morgan blinked. What did that even mean? She pushed it aside, because Faye seemed to be intimating that she was there for Dare more than Morgan had been. “You were only able to be with them because of me,” Morgan insisted. After all, Faye didn’t live in this world. Morgan did. It was her who had befriended Dare. Who had told her that she was going to live up to the name Morgan had given her. She was the one who had lived next door and played with Dare as a child. And she was the one who had fretted over her friend when she’d moved away and every day after until she’d come to the school. She had been and was more to Dare than Faye ever had been. “It was me who made friends with her. And it was me who held her when she cried. Me who held her when she needed the touch. I’m the one who lives in the real world, Faye. Not you.”
Faye nodded slowly, her expression slightly pained. “That is true. You do live in this reality. But that doesn’t change the fact that I have been there for Dare more than you ever have. Especially since you got back from Sinister’s pocket realm. She needed you, Morgan. To tell her that you held no ill will about what happened. To tell her it was okay to love Remy. To just tell her you were glad she’d survived and she’d come out of it stronger than ever. And you weren’t there. Were you?”
It was Morgan’s turn to look pained. Because Faye was right. She hadn’t been there for Dare. But the whole ordeal had been so overwhelming. And frightening. “That isn’t fair, Faye. I’d just come back from a year of being held captive with only Warren as companionship. And pregnant with a child who was created to help Apocalypse take over the world. I had my own emotions to tend to. Dare had Remy and she had Logan.” If there was a hint of pain in Morgan’s voice on that statement, she pretended she didn’t hear it.
“She needed you. Her oldest friend. Her most constant friend. Her oldest lover. The person who understood her better than anyone. And you turned your back on her. Her and the rest of your team. But that’s always been your way. Hasn’t it?”
“The fuck did you say?” Morgan demanded. Was Faye seriously accusing her of running away from her friends and family?
“You claim to love Dare. To love your friends. And yet, you couldn’t take your thoughts away from Warren long enough to see that they all needed you. You’ve long expected Remy to walk away from you. To stop loving you and find himself someone else. Or to go back to Rogue. To you, his dedication to Dare proves that theory to you. A faithless lover leaving you for another faithless lover. The story of your life.”
“How dare you!” Morgan cried, indignant. Trying her hardest not to let her pain show. Or to let the tears fall. Faye had never treated her like this. Like she didn’t need Morgan. Like she thought Morgan was trash beneath her feet. It was bad enough Jehnna had called her a whore. Now Faye was calling her something worse. Selfish and unworthy.
"My attention span is now longer than yours, Morgan." Faye crossed her arms over her chest and stared intently at Morgan. With those same alien eyes Morgan had seen in her face earlier. It was unnerving because there was a weight in them that she couldn’t recall ever being there before. Almost as if Faye was a real person, with her own thoughts and emotions. “I remember every time you called Dare an idiot or worse. I remember all the boys and men who fell victim to your act and how many of them you left without a care, with a broken heart or worse. I remember all the times you made your friends feel unwanted. And worse. I remember it all, even when you choose to pretend you don’t.”
Morgan drew a breath, looking for an answer to Faye’s accusations. But there was nothing. Because she wasn’t sure she could defend herself. Hadn’t Dare told Morgan herself that she was right to call her friend an idiot? Hadn’t she acted like it was fact and that hearing it from Morgan’s mouth didn’t hurt? And hadn’t she curled herself around the warmth and newness of Warren’s affections when she should have turned her attention to her friends? It had taken her far too long to see that they’d needed to connect and reconnect with one another. Look where that had gotten them…
Faye drifted closer, this time taking Morgan’s hands in hers. Her touch was warm and gentle. So was the look in her eyes. “Understand that I love you, Morgan. That I don’t say these things to hurt you. But you need to hear them. You need to understand that you are part of a problem you could have helped prevent.”
Morgan looked at Faye, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.
Faye offered her something Morgan thought was meant to be a smile. It looked rusty with disuse, painful and not quite right. "All that you are, Morgan, is because of me. And the family you say you've made for yourself here. Where is your worry and fear over your family? Jehnna's mind is nearly broken, but you shrink from her as if she's a venomous snake. Roxxy could have died. I have seen very little concern for her from you on that front. And Haley has run. Presumably to find Dare. But perhaps she felt she had no choice. Because Dare was the only member of her family who noticed she was falling apart. Dare was the only one who was there for her when she thought she'd lost those she loved the most. Where were you? What did you do for your family?"
The tears rolled faster, came with harsh sobs that echoed around the silent suite. Faye pulled her into a hug, something Morgan couldn’t’ ever remember her doing. And she held her close, one hand stroking through Morgan’s hair. “You need to decide, Morgan. Decide what’s most important in your life. Those people you call your friends and family? Or the seemingly perfect life you think you have with Warren. Decide and choose. Choose the wrong one and you’ll lose one of those things. Possibly both of them. But choose the right one and you will have both of them and more.”
Morgan looked up at Faye in confusion. Her tears were pouring out so hard that it was difficult to make out Faye’s face and the expression she wore upon it. Morgan thought maybe it was a soft expression. But she couldn’t be sure. Faye stroked her hair once more. “I love you, Morgan. I always have. I want you, and all of my girls, to be happy.”
All of her girls? What did that mean? The statement felt cryptic and Morgan’s brain wasn’t functioning well enough to decipher it. Then the idea of trying to figure it out was gone when Faye pressed a soft, tender kiss to her forehead.
A moment later, Morgan was alone. With her tears and her sadness. And with a small kernel of hope and warmth. After dragging her over the coals, Faye had offered her those two things as a gift. Morgan took a breath and dashed the tears from her eyes.
She knew what her choice was going to be. She was going to choose her family and make the most of Faye’s gift.
Chapter Fifty Six: Looking for Clues
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
She’d been on the ground less than a minute when a black Mini Cooper rolled across the cracked tarmac of what had once been a secret military installation. She hadn’t bothered to ask Clint which military it had belonged to and he hadn’t volunteered any information. She’d let it go since she kind of felt like he’d put his neck out enough for her by getting her the information she’d asked for. And the quinjet he’d acquired for her so she could get to Europe without having to risk a commercial flight. She might have been able to disguise herself and hide from the cameras, but she’d have had a hell of a time doing the same with TJ and Emilia.
She watched through the windshield of the quinjet as the Mini came through the opened hangar door and kind of lurched to a stop several feet away. A glance showed her that both TJ and Emilia were still sleeping. TJ had, at first, been excited by going on a plane. But the endless expanse of ocean had bored her soon enough and, after eating the sandwich and snacks Haley had gotten from a bodega before heading for the location where Clint had left transport for them, TJ had curled up in her seat and gone to sleep. Offering up a prayer to whatever deity chose to listen that all would go smoothly, she undid her seat belt and exited the jet.
She knew the man who exited the Mini, had met him a time or two during some conference or another. Pete Wisdom looked as if he’d just rolled out of bed, with a head of messy black hair and a touch of stubble on his chin. He was decked out in a trench coat that she felt certain hid a weapon or two. Not that she cared, because he’d not only arrived on time but he also carried two tall paper cups with him. The logo stamped upon them told her he’d honored her request of coffee. Maybe this meeting wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Especially when the desire to get moving and find Dare itched under her skin like a living, breathing thing.
“Your coffee, luv. Exactly as you requested,” Pete said, offering one of the cups to her when she finally stopped before him. Haley took it with a hint of a smile, then took a careful sip. It was still hot, and the caffeine felt like exactly what she’d needed. She heaved a faint sigh and indulged in another drink.
“Thank you, Pete. I haven’t had coffee in hours,” she responded, letting the heat from the brew seep into her hands through the paper of the cup. After a third sip, she leveled a look on him. “Did you bring me the information I asked for?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Always business with you, yeah?” he asked. But he turned back to the Mini and opened the door, then leaned in to grab something sitting on the seat. The file folder he held was not as thick as she’d hoped it would be, but it was still thicker than the one Clint had brought to her. Haley took it from him, using the roof of the Mini as a place to leave her coffee. Then she started leafing through the contents of the file.
“Took a bit of work to get all of the information you wanted without raising suspicions. You know the powers that be are always curious about the doings of the X-Men,” Pete informed her. She could see from the corner of her eye that he was watching her intently. Maybe waiting for her to tell him why she’d needed this information. He was going to be waiting a long damn time if that was the case. She had no intention of telling him anything that he didn’t already know.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. She just trusted him less than she trusted Clint. Barton knew Dare, even if only a tiny bit, and he was smart enough to understand the things Haley hadn’t given voice to. She also knew that he was capable of reading far deeper between the lines than most people would expect. So he had a damn good idea why she’d wanted information. And she’d given him as much as she could without going into great detail. Wisdom, on the other hand, had never met Dare and didn’t know her personally. Haley wasn’t sure how much she could safely disclose about Dare and her past. And there was also the fact that he worked for MI6, which was always keen, as he’d just reminded her, to know what the X-Men were up to.
So any information that she’d deemed too personal or important to share had been kept carefully under wraps. Pete knew she was looking for a friend who might or might not be in trouble. It was as much as she’d felt comfortable telling him.
“I appreciate the effort, Pete,” she responded, taking her time with the information he’d gathered. There were a handful of itineraries like the ones Clint’s contact had found. And this time, there were tickets for trains. A lot of tickets for the train going just about everywhere. For a moment, Haley felt a sense of pride in the way Dare had obviously put in the work. She very much did not want to be found and she’d created a trail a hundred miles long and growing all in an effort to make it harder for anyone trying to find her to actually do so. She’d chosen locations in France, England, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Italy, Spain, and so many more. But the pride was short lived because that made Haley’s job so much harder. She was going to have to pair what she knew of Dare to the information she’d received from both Clint and Pete and try to determine just where the other woman had gone.
That thought in mind, Haley went back to the file and the information it contained. Pete had also included some photos. There weren’t quite as many as Clint’s contact had managed to find, and some of them were images she’d already seen. But there were a few new ones that seemed to put Dare in Switzerland and Portugal and even Ukraine. Haley studied all of it, the itineraries and the photos, with a sharp eye, trying to find that one thing that stood out from the rest that would give her a better idea as to where Dare had gone. The problem was, there really wasn’t any clear destination based on what Pete had brought to her. Everything was very convoluted and confusing. Intentionally so. Damn it, she was going to have to spare time she didn’t really have to sit down and go over everything with a fine tooth comb.
Was Dare working with someone? Was that why it was so hard to find a clue in what she had? Did she have her own network of contacts she could call upon? Haley didn’t think so. She hadn’t been very interested in leading a team until Paris and Doom. That thought, the memory of everything that had happened, gave Haley pause. Was it possible Doom had gotten a hold of Dare when she’d landed in Europe? Maybe he’d heard about it and sent someone to grab her. Haley had no doubt he was intent on revenge. That was kind of Doom’s thing. And Dare had not only put a huge hole in his new castle. She’d hurt him. Badly. He would definitely be gunning for her.
She studied all of the itineraries again. It didn’t seem plausible that Dare would go to Hungary. Not when it would take her that close to Latveria and Doom. She felt certain that Hungary was a ruse. Dare likely expected Logan to go looking for her. Possibly even Remy. She’d probably chosen Hungary because Logan probably wouldn’t think it to be a ruse. Haley had her doubts that either of them fully knew what had happened in Doomstadt. Because Dare had done what she always did. She’d kept the whole thing to herself. She’d never really been good at talking about herself. And definitely not about her accomplishments.
No. Hungary was off the list. But that left every other country in Europe open. Haley was still fairly certain that Dare had come to London. She just couldn’t be certain that Dare had stayed in London. Maybe she’d left right away and gone to one of the Mediterranean countries. It would be easy for her to get lost in a tourist’s paradise. No one would expect her to go someplace where the sun shone bright and warm and the ocean was the most amazing shade of blue that existed. Haley might have to wander south and check it out.
She was ready to turn to the photos and study them in depth when a noise cut into her concentration. A moment later, she realized that it was Emilia. The little one had woken and started crying. Haley closed the file and reached for her coffee. She cast a look at her companion, who seemed to be eyeing the quinjet with undisguised curiosity. “Wait here, Pete. I’ll be right back,” she told him and then turned for the quinjet’s extended ramp.
When she made it up into the interior of the jet, it was to find that TJ was fully in Big Sister mode and was trying her best to rock Emilia’s car seat. The only problem was it was still belted into the seat so it didn’t move very well. There was a pacifier and a tiny stuffed puppy laying in Emilia’s lap. Obviously, Big Sister TJ had tried soothing her baby sister with methods she’d seen her mother use. A soft smile touched Haley’s lips a moment, then she was on her way over to help her daughter.
“Mama,” TJ chirped when she saw Haley coming. “`Melia crying.”
“I hear that, sweetheart,” Haley responded. She made quick work of the buckles holding Emilia in her seat, then lifted her daughter up to rock her while she did a diaper check. “Thank you for trying to make her feel better. I’m sure Emilia appreciates that you gave her the things she likes most.”
“It didn’ work,” TJ observed, eyes wide as she watched her mother retrieve the baby bag with all of the necessary supplies required for a successful diaper change. With one hand, she pulled the zipper back. Then she pulled a diaper, wipes, powder, and the changing mat from the interior. TJ was there to lay the mat out on the floor by Haley’s knees, her little hands smoothing it out with care.
“It did not. But the important thing is that you tried,” Haley said, settling Emilia on the mat. Deft hands worked the snaps on the onesie that Emilia wore, giving her access to the diaper underneath it. It took no time to pull the tabs and peel the diaper back. Half a minute later, Emilia was wearing a dry diaper and her onesie had been done back up. Haley picked her up and held her close. Logic told her that it was time to feed Emilia, so she needed to finish up with Pete and get him gone. It would probably be a good idea for her to get them some more food. She needed to eat so that she could start stringing clues together. And TJ needed a meal simply because she was growing.
“Mama,” TJ said, her voice filled with curiosity. One tiny finger pointed past Haley, toward the back of the jet. “Who zat?” She turned to face the back of the jet and muttered under her breath about idiots and simple instructions.
“Cute kid. You know, if you squint at the baby just right, she looks like Cy…” Pete’s words trailed off when Haley rose and turned to glare at him.
“Not another word, Pete,” Haley warned. She moved to the car seat and put Emilia back in it. The belt clicked into place with a practiced motion. Then she turned to face Pete again. For a moment, a smirk lingered on Pete’s face and she saw in his eyes the fact that he was going to continue on. Then he got a good look at the expression she wore and the desire to be a prick faded into the background. “Do you have any other information for me? Anything that could give me a place to start looking?”
“Sorry, luv. Everything I have for you is in that file.” Pete pointed at the file folder Haley had settled on one of the empty seats. He actually sounded like he was sorry. The look on his face seemed to be apologetic. “Your friend is either very lucky that she didn’t get caught more on film or she’s very smart. And I hope you find her.”
Haley was not going to give in to tears just because Pete Wisdom was being nice to her. She could do that later, after she found Dare and throttled the life out of her. “Thanks, Pete. For everything,” she replied. She couldn’t imagine what kind of effort had been required for him to get this for her without getting caught.
“You’re welcome, luv. I only wish I could have done more for you,” he replied. He sounded like he genuinely meant it. Haley stared at him a moment, then glanced to where TJ stood watching them. No doubt she was hungry. The food from the bodega had to have given out a while ago.
Haley gave Pete her best brilliant smile. “Well, there is one more thing.”
~*~*~*~*~
The sun overhead was high in the sky, shining hot and bright over the city. Light and heat bounced off the concrete of the buildings and the pavement, which left the air simmering with a combination of that same intense heat and the stickiness of humidity. Any other time, it would be a welcome respite from the cold that came with the fall and winter months in the northern part of the country. Today, it was no such thing. Because he knew, as he wiped a few drops of sweat from his brow, that they would not find their quarry here. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that they’d find any sign of her having been here.
The salty scent of the ocean wafted past on a faint breeze and tickled his nose in an effort to convince him to spend some time at its shore, soaking up the sun. As if he would put aside his duty for a stolen moment of peace. There was no time for peace. There was too much in his head to allow that. Too much noise. Too much worry. Too much fear. Too much guilt.
The creak of hinges and the jingle of a bell pulled him from the pit his thoughts were plummeting into. Logan stepped out of the unassuming looking building into which he’d disappeared earlier and onto the sidewalk, a look of disgust on his face. Which said he hadn’t had any luck talking to his contact. Remy could have told him that. There was no way Dare would have ever come to Miami. It was too bright. Too sunny. Too hot. Too much for her. After all these years, Logan should know that Dare preferred the quiet and shadows to the brilliance of public life and the spotlight. And no matter what anyone thought, Dare would stand out here. Hell, she’d stand out where ever she went. Because there was something about the way she carried herself and the look in her eyes that drew people’s attention. “You contact don’ have any information,” Remy said flatly.
Logan shook his head. “Ain’t heard nothin’ about someone matching Dare’s description. And nothin’ about a baby with red on black eyes,” he confirmed. The disgust on his face echoed in the words he spoke.
Frustration boiled up inside of Remy. He’d told Logan that this was a wild goose chase. He’d told the other man that it was pointless to keep drifting from one city to the next in the hopes that they’d find a clue. In the past few days, they’d gone from New York City to Philadelphia to Norfolk to Atlanta. And now they were in Miami, as if Dare would ever get anywhere near someplace so bright. As if she’d be stupid enough to follow a path down the coast. A path that was easily traced. “Don’ I tell you she don’ come here?” Remy demanded, his anger making his voice sharp. Logan shot him a glare.
“I don’t see ya comin’ up with any answers,” he retorted. His tone said he was on edge. Possibly as much as Remy was. Remy knew he shouldn’t take his emotional state out on Logan. This was no doubt just as hard for him as it was for Remy. After all, Logan had lived with Dare for more than a decade. They had children together. This was no doubt extremely difficult for him, too. “Why are ya even here, kid?” The man’s voice was a low growl filled with the emotions to which he would otherwise never give voice.
“You know why,” Remy responded. The look Logan shot him suggested he wasn’t buying Remy’s claims that the love he had for Dare was the forever and after kind.
“You keep claimin’ you love her. But I ain’t seen any real sign,” Logan accused. He shot a glare Remy’s way before speaking again. “Hell, you had a chance with her and ya fucked that up.”
Of course he’d go back to that disastrous threesome. Logan had never let go of the suspicion that Remy had done something that night. Something that had driven Dare out of his bed and into Logan’s. Even though Remy knew that Dare had told Logan, more than once, that it had been her own doing. Had she never told him she’d left because she’d known Morgan was in love with Remy? He shot Logan a scowl, his fingers itching to have a card or two between them. “You always gon’ see me as de one who do Dare wrong,” he accused.
“If the shoe fits, boy,” Logan returned.
“Dare leave dat night because she see how much Morgan love me,” Remy shot back. He did nothing to keep the emotions from his voice. “She sacrifice her happiness for her best friend. But maybe you don’ know dat. Maybe you don’ know she give up everyt’ing for someone else. I still wonder why she leave me and run to you.”
“Mebbe because ya didn’t cherish her when ya had her,” Logan responded. It was harsh and cruel, even if it was the truth. And it made Remy’s heart twist in his chest a little. He should have told her way back then that their relationship wasn’t just so he could have sex with her. He was going to spend a lifetime, possibly more, making that up to her. The reminder of his short comings saw him shoot Logan a look meant to make the man feel small and insignificant.
“Like you cherish her now?”
Remy’s words earned him a growl. It looked like he’d scored a hit with that one. The other man glared at him a moment, then turned and stalked a few steps up the sidewalk. One hand came up and raked through wiry hair that was already a mess. Silence built between them, simmering like the heat waves rising up off the pavement. Tempers were short and worry gnawed at reason. Remy shouldn’t have provoked the Wolverine, but they’d found a whole metric fuckton of nothing. And the fear and worry that Sinister would find Dare before they did, that Sinister would take Dare and Petra before they could find them, ate at his brain almost constantly. Remy sighed and ran his hands through his own hair. They needed to come up with a better plan to find Dare and Petra before the two of them lost their tempers and tried to kill one another.
“Look, mon ami,” Remy began, but Logan turned and brought Remy’s apology to a halt. The look in his eyes, the expression on his face… Both of them said that Logan was lost and he didn’t know how to fix that. This wasn’t a problem he could win by fighting. Unsheathing his claws wouldn’t get him anywhere. He didn’t know what to do and he didn’t like it one bit.
“I can’t lose her, Rem,” Logan said quietly. There was a wealth of emotion in his voice, which was a surprise because he was normally fairly stoic.
“You not gon’ lose her, Logan. We not gon’ let dat happen,” Remy assured him. Hell, he was assuring himself. Because he honestly felt as lost as Logan did. His brain went back to that disastrous meeting with Jehnna and how it had all played out. He was still angry beyond reason that Jehnna had so casually and carelessly been cruel to women she’d willingly called friends and family. He’d wanted to slap her for it then. The urge hadn’t died any with distance and time between them.
Remy forced himself to put Jehnna’s words from his mind. Jean had made it sound like Jehnna didn’t really know or understand what she was saying. That Jehnna had been acting out because she’d been full of emotions and thoughts and so many other things that she hadn’t known how to process. And he was no better. He’d spent the past few days acting more on emotions than on his instincts and his own experiences. Worry and fear about what might happen had clouded his every thought and action. And that had seen him almost picking a fight with Logan.
He knew the other man was doing the best he could with the information they had. But Logan was thinking like a hunter. Follow the tracks and the clues left behind for long enough and they would lead him to his prey. The problem was that Dare wasn’t thinking like prey. She wasn’t trying to get away. She was simply trying to hide. It was an instinct that came from spending any amount of time living on the streets. The instinct to protect oneself. In any and all ways necessary. Dare wasn’t running from them. She was trying to hide and protect herself. Hadn’t Remy been forced to do that himself at one time or another?
He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Logan’s cell phone ringing. Remy watched as the other man pulled the slim device from his pocket. Very few people called him. Dare had always been the main person. Dee called him when she needed something. And she had set her own ringtone, a song that Remy knew made Logan cringe. The electronic sound wasn’t making Logan cringe. Which meant that the call was likely from Scott, checking in to see if they had any news.
Remy tuned it out. The decision had been made, before they’d left, that the two sets of men would keep in contact with one another during their searches. Since Haley and Dare’s trails both converged time and again, they’d decided to split the search and share what information they found along the way. Except each call had been the same. He and Logan hadn’t been able to discover anything. And Johnny and Scott were having the same issue. No one had seen or heard from Dare. Whichever contact they tapped for help came up without a shred of anything useful. Almost as if the two women had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.
That thought wanted to overwhelm Remy. It had tried each and every time he’d had it. As with the other times, he pushed it back again. Shoved it into a corner of his mind and did his best to center himself. Worry edged the fragile bit of peace he was able to gain. Not just for Dare and their child. For Haley and her children, too. Haley was a good friend. She and her children were part of the extended family Remy had crafted for himself. He wasn’t about to leave her out there, alone and defenseless. Not with Sinister on the loose. Not with Apocalypse’s horsemen part of the equation. Haley was strong and capable of defending herself. But with two young children in her care, that put her at a disadvantage.
But the thought that they’d disappeared wouldn’t let him be. It kept nibbling at a corner of his brain, kept trying to suck him back into the whirlpool of fear that had lived there for days. He refused to believe that Sinister had taken them. There was no way he could allow himself to entertain that thought because, if it were the truth, they’d never get Dare back. Oh, they might find her and bring her home. But she wouldn’t be Dare anymore. And what would spending more time with Sinister do to Haley?
No. It wasn’t Sinister’s doing that they couldn’t find a single clue as to where Dare or Haley had gone. The lack of a trail was because Dare knew how to cover her tracks. And Haley’s abilities as a leader gave her avenues that other people wouldn’t have. Remy could almost believe that Haley had spent time on the streets based on her ability to hide from them. It was one of the first things anyone who lived on the streets learned. His own time on the streets had taught him as much.
Unbidden, Duke’s voice echoed in his head. Deep and growling, the man had leveled one accusation after another at both Remy and Logan. And now, with time spent away from that moment, Remy’s head was clear enough to know that Duke had been right to level those accusations their way. Because they were all true. There was so much Remy could have done for Dare, as a friend, that would have helped. And he’d failed her in that respect. He’d left her floundering in a sea of trauma and distrust. No wonder she’d thought she had no choice but to run.
"You know what its like to be on the streets. You, of all people, should have offered her more than a few words. Maybe she wouldn't feel like she didn't deserve you if you'd given her more. If you'd given her a reason to trust you." Those words, in Duke’s growling voice, rose to taunt him. He did know what it was like when you were on the streets. There was no one to turn to, really. No one to rely on. No one but yourself. And you did what you had to do in order to survive. Because, if you didn’t, the streets would eat you up. No one would notice. No one would miss you. No one would even care.
Hadn’t he fought that battle? Hadn’t he been forced to confront his past when Creed had kept him caged and naked, little more than an animal to use and abuse? He knew Dare had borne witness to not only the abuse, but the resulting behaviors, too. She’d no doubt seen someone she didn’t know. And she’d never said a word about it. Maybe she’d understood that doing so would see him withdrawing from her. Maybe she’d recognized it as the survival trait it was. She’d never thought to look down upon him for it, either. Remy had spent a lifetime trying to forget those moments when he’d had no place to go. When he’d had no choice but to rely upon his own skills to see the sunrise and sunset each day.
There had been so much fear and confusion in those days. The memories of those feelings lived under his skin like ghosts trying to inhabit his body. They drove how he lived now. How he met each day with a smile and the desire to live it to the fullest. Because he knew that it could all be taken away from him in an instant. It was why he loved deeply. Why he laughed heartily. Why he savored food, good or bad. Why he took so much pride in his family and his friends. Because every one of those things were signs that he’d lived. That he’d survived. That he’d crawled through hell and come out on the other side, made into someone new.
He made a point to never forget where he’d come from. Or what he’d had to do to get from then to now. He made a point of never letting the fear control him, because that would be akin to dying. Because living on the streets, doing what he’d had to do to survive, had taught him that the only way to go forward was to live and learn and love and enjoy. To let people into his life and make them his home.
Remy didn’t know fully what Dare had done to survive on the streets. He knew she’d found some kind of safety with the gang. But that was no kind of life for a teenaged girl. Dare had been at an age where she’d needed someone who loved her without any kind of qualifiers. Without any judgement. Without anything that would make her think she had to toe an imaginary line in order to be worthy of affection and care. She’d needed safety and stability. Neither of which she’d actually gotten. Things like that made one secretive, made one hold tight to emotions and desires.
He knew about the circumstances that had brought Dare to the school. Of course he did. Everyone on staff had been made aware of the fire. And the people who had died. And the fact that Dare had apparently been responsible for some of those deaths. He knew how those kinds of things wore on one’s emotional state. Hell, he’d seen it on Dare in the way she’d never looked upon anyone but Morgan with trust. She’d already been traumatized when she’d stepped through the main doors. And Remy had known without having to ask how she’d gotten there. He should have offered her a hand then, given her something upon which to start building the foundations of her safety and trust.
He’d failed her then. And he’d just kept on failing her. Because he’d never asked questions. Not when they’d so briefly been a couple. Not when Creed had taken them. And certainly not when he and Logan had sprung the idea of the foursome on her. Of course she’d given the appearance of knowing what was going on. Of understanding the situation. She’d done a damn fine job of making everyone think that she knew what she was getting into by agreeing to the foursome. He should have known better. Hadn’t he seen first hand how she’d reacted to the threesome she’d had with him and Morgan?
A snort of disgust pulled him from his thoughts to find Logan was tucking the phone back into his pocket. The look on his face, the way he shoved the phone so forcibly into his back pocket, told Remy all he needed to know. “Dey not havin’ any luck, either,” he said softly.
“They ain’t found a damn thing,” Logan replied. “Summers said its like Haley just up and disappeared.”
There was that word again. Remy frowned, almost letting the notion that Sinister had found them take control again. But he put it aside as that nibble he felt earlier turned into a full bite, a painful jolt that jarred his thoughts off into another direction altogether. “Maybe it what dey want us to think,” he said slowly, his tongue tasting the words for truth as they came to him.
“How’s that?” Logan asked. He sounded interested.
“Keep t’inkin’ about Dare. How she live on de streets. How we don’ know how she survive it,” Remy began. The thoughts hadn’t solidified yet, so he wasn’t sure what he was getting at yet. But he let the words keep flowing, certain they’d take him to the right conclusion. “We know she live wit’ de gang. But we don’t know what she learn from dem. What she do wit’ dem.”
“She never wanted ta talk about it,” Logan replied.
Remy nodded, letting his gaze settle on the horizon in the distance. “It de same wit’ me. You live on de streets, you do t’ings you don’ want to do just to find a meal. To find a bed. To make it to de next day. Dere no telling what Dare had to do.” Remy frowned and brought his gaze back to Logan. “We don’ want to force her to talk about it. Maybe we should have.”
“Ain’t sure I know what yer getting’ at, Rem,” Logan told him, his tone suggesting he didn’t see how this was important at the moment.
“Dare usin’ skills she learn on de streets to hide from us. Dis not’ing to do wit’ her powers. Dis somet’ing she know how to do on her own.”
Logan stared a minute or two, then cursed and shook his head. “Yer sayin’ that we’re followin’ a false trail. And that Dare meant for us to do so,” he muttered. Then he stared at Remy and frowned. “You’re also saying that we didn’t communicate with her the way we should have. Son of a bitch. How is it we didn’t see this shit, but my twelve year old daughter did?”
“Because Dee smart. Like her mama,” Remy replied without softening the blow. And without a hint of remorse.
“So if what yer sayin’ is right, how does that help us find Dare? That just makes it goddamn harder,” Logan grunted.
Remy offered him a smile. “Den it a good t’ing I know how to survive on de streets. Dat gon’ help us.” He motioned toward the rented vehicle parked at the curb. It was an SUV, shiny and new with all kinds of toys. Remy tugged the keys from his pocket and started toward it.
“Don’t give us a place to look,” Logan returned. But he was following.
“No. It don’. Dat why we goin’ to New Orleans.” Remy got in and turned the engine over. He waited until Logan was in the passenger’s seat before he turned on the air conditioning.
“What’s in New Orleans?” the other man asked warily.
“You see. Trust dis ol’ Cajun.”
~*~*~*~*~
The suite was quiet. In fact, it was so quiet that it was on the verge of driving her insane. Morgan almost wanted to wake Kayla up in order to have someone other than herself in the room with her. But the baby had been cranky lately. As if she knew that her aunts were missing. Or maybe it was to do with the fact that Warren barely spent time with the two of them. He was caught between trying to help figure out where Dare and Haley had gotten to and trying to ensure Jean was helping Jehnna the way she’d said she would. Morgan didn’t understand that one, but she let it go. Warren hadn’t looked very much like he was willing to answer any questions about Jean and Jehnna at the moment.
To make matters worse, Morgan hadn’t seen Faye since that day in the conference room. She still couldn’t believe Faye wasn’t going to help them find Dare. That didn’t seem right. She’d always been Dare’s guardian angel, had always done her best to protect the other woman. Hell, she was the one who had told Morgan, with absolute certainty, that Dare would come into their life. Morgan couldn’t understand why she’d choose now to abstain from watching over Dare.
“I never said I was abstaining from watching over Dare. I said I wasn’t going to tell Logan, or anyone else, where she is. There is a big difference,” Faye’s voice filled the room behind her. It prompted Morgan to whirl and face the other woman. Faye looked… different. Her face didn’t seem quite right. And her eyes were alien. She stood a good distance away, her arms crossed over her chest. And she was giving Morgan a look that suggested she was going to be difficult. Again.
“But why? Why not tell us where she is so we can go get her and bring her back home. She isn’t safe out there and she needs me,” Morgan replied. There might have been a hint of a whine in her voice. There was a lot of a plea in it. A plea that didn’t seem to touch Faye.
“Because Dare needs to find herself. And she needs to decide what she wants her life to be. Who she wants to have in it,” Faye replied, not an ounce of anything other than reproach in her voice. “Which I believe I told you before.”
“You did. And you didn’t bother to explain it. You just did what you always do when things are uncomfortable for you and you disappeared. This is the first I’ve seen you in days,” Morgan accused. She couldn’t quite help the note of pain and accusation that accompanied her words.
“What is there to explain? Dare needs to find herself. And you, Logan, and Remy need to figure out what it is you want from Dare.” Faye sounded bored. Worse, Morgan could sense the stubbornness in her twin. It was strong and absolute. She couldn’t remember a time when Faye had been this stubborn about things. About anything. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t ever remember Faye as anything other than playful and puckish. Abrupt, childish, and silly.
“She’s my friend,” Morgan responded. It should have been more than enough of an explanation. But Faye’s face took on a look of disbelief, making Morgan wonder what was so hard to believe about what she’d said.
“Do you even know what that means, Morgan?” Faye asked. Morgan rolled her eyes. She thought the statement had been pretty self explanatory. “Because I don’t think you do.”
“Oh, yeah?” Morgan’s voice may have come out a little harsher than she’d meant it to, but she’d never dealt with this version of Faye. She did not like it one bit. “Why don’t you explain it to me, then? Since you seem to know everything.”
It was Faye’s turn to roll her eyes. But she moved closer. Morgan found herself caught in the way Faye moved. Because it didn’t look human at all. And she suddenly felt like prey, frozen in fear because the big predator was after her. It honestly felt like she was being hunted. The spell or whatever it was snapped when Faye stood before her. And she looked normal, the way she’d looked to Morgan every day of her life since Faye had shown up in Morgan’s life. But there was anger on her face, burning in her eyes, and it made Morgan want to step back. Because she was reminded of the way she’d looked when Morgan had begged her to quit punishing Creed all those years ago.
“How do you treat Dare?” Faye asked, throwing Morgan for a loop. She wasn’t expecting the question and she didn’t see what it had to do with the discussion of friends and friendship. Morgan frowned and tried to figure out if it was some kind of trick question. The problem was, Faye didn’t sound like she was in a joking mood. And Morgan was at a loss to see how it could be anything but an honest, serious question.
“What do you mean?” Morgan asked her twin, her confusion about the question heavy in her voice.
“I quite literally mean it as I asked it. How do you treat Dare?” Faye shot the question at her again. This time, though, she frowned at Morgan. “Do you ask her for her opinion on important matters? Do you go out of your way to visit with her every day? Talk to her every day? Do you spend time with her even though you don’t have time to spare? Or do you only seek her out when you need something? Only talk to her when it suits your purposes? Do you see her as an extension of yourself? Or as a tool to be used when things aren’t going quite your way?”
“You know that I don’t see Dare as a tool!” Morgan declared hotly. She shot Faye a dark look. “And its unfair of you to imply I do!”
“You knew she was drowning in all of the trauma she’s experienced,” Faye countered, her voice never wavering in volume. “And you did nothing. You let her run from the safety of her home and into the arms of strangers without ever once doing anything to help.”
“I didn’t know how to approach the professor for help. I thought he’d tell me I imagined all of it. That he’d make you and Dare both go away!” Morgan told her. She’d lived with that fear from the moment she’d stepped through the school’s doors. To be honest, there were times when she still felt that fear. Like now. Morgan pushed the fear aside and focused on the figure before her. “But when I saw the vision of that last fire, I knew I had to do something.”
“Only you didn’t do it. Did you, Morgan? I was the one who put the professor onto Dare’s need for help. I’m the one who put my neck on the line to help your friend,” Faye returned. The last word of the last sentence was said with all of the disbelief Faye could put into it. As if she was questioning whether that was the truth or not. There was a stab of pain near Morgan’s heart. Faye had never treated her like this before. What had changed so drastically that she was doing so now? “Of the two of us, I’m the one who has constantly, consistently, been there for Dare. I’m the one who did what I could to help her. What did you do?”
Morgan blinked. She didn’t understand why Faye was being so cruel. Why she was turning against her. None of this conversation made sense.
“What did you do for her, Morgan?” Faye repeated. “Once she was here at the school
“I was there with Logan when Creed took her and Remy,” Morgan insisted.
“You were. And so was I,” Faye replied. She didn’t seem impressed with that answer. She turned her back toward Morgan, paced across the floor before turning back to face her again. There was a look on her face Morgan had a hard time reading. It looked like sadness. And despair. Possibly other things. Those weren’t emotions Morgan was used to seeing on Faye’s face. It made her wonder if Faye saw something or knew something that Morgan didn’t. “I was with her for the worst of what Creed did to her, whether she knew it or not. I was with her when her mind started to slip away. I was with her when Remy tried desperately to keep her here, to keep her alive. I am the reason you know what happened to her. To them. And I am the reason that they didn’t have to live with your desperation. With how you were slowly fading away in the face of their loss. I am so much more than you think I am.”
Morgan blinked. What did that even mean? She pushed it aside, because Faye seemed to be intimating that she was there for Dare more than Morgan had been. “You were only able to be with them because of me,” Morgan insisted. After all, Faye didn’t live in this world. Morgan did. It was her who had befriended Dare. Who had told her that she was going to live up to the name Morgan had given her. She was the one who had lived next door and played with Dare as a child. And she was the one who had fretted over her friend when she’d moved away and every day after until she’d come to the school. She had been and was more to Dare than Faye ever had been. “It was me who made friends with her. And it was me who held her when she cried. Me who held her when she needed the touch. I’m the one who lives in the real world, Faye. Not you.”
Faye nodded slowly, her expression slightly pained. “That is true. You do live in this reality. But that doesn’t change the fact that I have been there for Dare more than you ever have. Especially since you got back from Sinister’s pocket realm. She needed you, Morgan. To tell her that you held no ill will about what happened. To tell her it was okay to love Remy. To just tell her you were glad she’d survived and she’d come out of it stronger than ever. And you weren’t there. Were you?”
It was Morgan’s turn to look pained. Because Faye was right. She hadn’t been there for Dare. But the whole ordeal had been so overwhelming. And frightening. “That isn’t fair, Faye. I’d just come back from a year of being held captive with only Warren as companionship. And pregnant with a child who was created to help Apocalypse take over the world. I had my own emotions to tend to. Dare had Remy and she had Logan.” If there was a hint of pain in Morgan’s voice on that statement, she pretended she didn’t hear it.
“She needed you. Her oldest friend. Her most constant friend. Her oldest lover. The person who understood her better than anyone. And you turned your back on her. Her and the rest of your team. But that’s always been your way. Hasn’t it?”
“The fuck did you say?” Morgan demanded. Was Faye seriously accusing her of running away from her friends and family?
“You claim to love Dare. To love your friends. And yet, you couldn’t take your thoughts away from Warren long enough to see that they all needed you. You’ve long expected Remy to walk away from you. To stop loving you and find himself someone else. Or to go back to Rogue. To you, his dedication to Dare proves that theory to you. A faithless lover leaving you for another faithless lover. The story of your life.”
“How dare you!” Morgan cried, indignant. Trying her hardest not to let her pain show. Or to let the tears fall. Faye had never treated her like this. Like she didn’t need Morgan. Like she thought Morgan was trash beneath her feet. It was bad enough Jehnna had called her a whore. Now Faye was calling her something worse. Selfish and unworthy.
"My attention span is now longer than yours, Morgan." Faye crossed her arms over her chest and stared intently at Morgan. With those same alien eyes Morgan had seen in her face earlier. It was unnerving because there was a weight in them that she couldn’t recall ever being there before. Almost as if Faye was a real person, with her own thoughts and emotions. “I remember every time you called Dare an idiot or worse. I remember all the boys and men who fell victim to your act and how many of them you left without a care, with a broken heart or worse. I remember all the times you made your friends feel unwanted. And worse. I remember it all, even when you choose to pretend you don’t.”
Morgan drew a breath, looking for an answer to Faye’s accusations. But there was nothing. Because she wasn’t sure she could defend herself. Hadn’t Dare told Morgan herself that she was right to call her friend an idiot? Hadn’t she acted like it was fact and that hearing it from Morgan’s mouth didn’t hurt? And hadn’t she curled herself around the warmth and newness of Warren’s affections when she should have turned her attention to her friends? It had taken her far too long to see that they’d needed to connect and reconnect with one another. Look where that had gotten them…
Faye drifted closer, this time taking Morgan’s hands in hers. Her touch was warm and gentle. So was the look in her eyes. “Understand that I love you, Morgan. That I don’t say these things to hurt you. But you need to hear them. You need to understand that you are part of a problem you could have helped prevent.”
Morgan looked at Faye, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.
Faye offered her something Morgan thought was meant to be a smile. It looked rusty with disuse, painful and not quite right. "All that you are, Morgan, is because of me. And the family you say you've made for yourself here. Where is your worry and fear over your family? Jehnna's mind is nearly broken, but you shrink from her as if she's a venomous snake. Roxxy could have died. I have seen very little concern for her from you on that front. And Haley has run. Presumably to find Dare. But perhaps she felt she had no choice. Because Dare was the only member of her family who noticed she was falling apart. Dare was the only one who was there for her when she thought she'd lost those she loved the most. Where were you? What did you do for your family?"
The tears rolled faster, came with harsh sobs that echoed around the silent suite. Faye pulled her into a hug, something Morgan couldn’t’ ever remember her doing. And she held her close, one hand stroking through Morgan’s hair. “You need to decide, Morgan. Decide what’s most important in your life. Those people you call your friends and family? Or the seemingly perfect life you think you have with Warren. Decide and choose. Choose the wrong one and you’ll lose one of those things. Possibly both of them. But choose the right one and you will have both of them and more.”
Morgan looked up at Faye in confusion. Her tears were pouring out so hard that it was difficult to make out Faye’s face and the expression she wore upon it. Morgan thought maybe it was a soft expression. But she couldn’t be sure. Faye stroked her hair once more. “I love you, Morgan. I always have. I want you, and all of my girls, to be happy.”
All of her girls? What did that mean? The statement felt cryptic and Morgan’s brain wasn’t functioning well enough to decipher it. Then the idea of trying to figure it out was gone when Faye pressed a soft, tender kiss to her forehead.
A moment later, Morgan was alone. With her tears and her sadness. And with a small kernel of hope and warmth. After dragging her over the coals, Faye had offered her those two things as a gift. Morgan took a breath and dashed the tears from her eyes.
She knew what her choice was going to be. She was going to choose her family and make the most of Faye’s gift.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-11-24 07:43 pm (UTC)I love that TJ tried. I'm sure they'll both grow into some kind of sisterly situations eventually (most likely picking on each other until someone else tries it and then... oh boy) but it kind of breaks my heart that she feels she has to help at this point because clearly Haley isn't okay and I'm sure she can pick up on that. Hopefully things calm down and she can be adorable again.
“Cute kid. You know, if you squint at the baby just right, she looks like Cy…” and that ladies and gentlemen was how Pete Wisdom died. LMAO
Part of me loves that both Remy and Logan are getting frayed at the edges after a couple days. Understandably so and they both do have a tendency to get a little sharp so... that could have gotten ugly in a hurry.
The realizations that Remy's having are great. It's about time he realizes just how assuming everyone was on the same page doesn't work. And how he should have shared more of his past if he expected Dare to share hers might have at least opened the door to a conversation. Hopefully he takes that revelation seriously moving forward.
Ooo, Faye has some feelings but she's not wrong. Morgan has been in her comfortable (relatively) pocket and hasn't done a lot of crack out of it. Also Faye seems very juiced up. Very interesting given the situation, one would think it would go the other way and she'd be more ghosty but I'm sure we'll figure that out eventually.
Hopefully everyone will remember at some point that they are a family and need each other. I think if Morgan works up some courage (and maybe doesn't pull a judgey face again about certain people) they can start healing and building up again.
Great job hun! I really loved this one! Can't wait to see what's next!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-11-25 09:19 pm (UTC)i'm sure TJ sees that something is not right with her mother. and i'm sure that's part of why she's trying to help with Emilia. but i can also see that some of it is just she plain wants to help her mother. whether Haley needs the help or not. i mean, that's her baby sister. of course she's going to try and take care of her.
yeah. Pete was taking his life into his own hands by even thinking of going there. the fact that he's smart enough to shut his mouth is a sign he has some brain cells working.
the boys probably thought it would be super easy to figure out where Dare went, then just show up and say they love her, and Dare would be willing to go home with them again. i don't think either one of them has really been paying attention to who she actually is. but they're going to find out. so spending a few days running around, thinking it'll be easy, and finding out it won't be anything of the sort is putting a huge bug in their butts. especially Logan's, because i feel he's actually starting to realize just how much of his life is now wrapped up in Dare. she's been a constant for over a decade. and that is teetering on the edge. he's realizing he could lose it and its throwing him off his game in a serious way. Remy is finally starting to realize what having Dare in his life has brought to it. and what that means to him. in short, both of them are being stupid about it all and she's teaching them a lesson they didn't know they needed to learn.
i like that Remy is finally starting to realize that Dare having lived on the streets really changes how they should have been approaching her. and that he needs to think with street smarts to find her. instead of relying on the trails she's laid down. maybe, if he and Logan can find her, he can start sharing parts of his past in an effort to convince her to share hers. we shall have to see.
i think Faye has spent a lifetime watching Morgan and seeing where she's made mistakes time and again. and i think Faye is tired of it. Morgan has always kind of remained in her little pocket of what one could consider relative safety. i don't feel she's tried to willfully remain ignorant. but she has kind of stayed a little stagnant? maybe? its just been easier than stepping out onto the ledge. and that kind of attitude has put her friendships at risk. which Faye none too gently let her know.
glad you enjoyed, bb. thanks for reading! <3
(no subject)
Date: 2025-11-29 01:32 am (UTC)Remy and Logan so frustrated by Dare's false trail that they're almost coming to blows over it...damn. At least Remy seems to be using his brain and making some long overdue realizations about his part in this mess. Hopefully they don't kill each other before they can find her. I'm curious about what Remy thinks he can find in New Orleans.
Well, that was a wake up call for Morgan and no mistake. Faye wasn't letting her off easy, was she? I am so curious about who/what this 'alien' un-Faye like Faye is and what her part in all of this is. Curiouser and more Curiouser. At least Morgan seems to be making the right choice. *fingers crossed*
Well done, bb. I enjoyed it muchly. *smooches*
(no subject)
Date: 2025-11-29 10:19 pm (UTC)the boys are kind of coming apart at the seams, aren't they? i kind of feel like Logan thought it would be much simpler to find her than it has been. chances are good he didn't take into consideration that she has spent time living on the streets. so its kind of a good thing Remy pulled his head out of his ass and started considering things from a different angle. you will find out why Remy takes himself and Logan to New Orleans. and it will be in this fic, even!
yeah. Morgan is having a few wake up calls in this story. probably none so enlightening as this one, though. or as serious. i think Faye is tired of what has been the status quo for a long time. and she's finally making Morgan (and other people) understand that. Faye's not very Faye-like appearance will be explained. ... just not here. that will come later. i'm sorry! i know i keep saying that! but it will happen later. there will be a fic to come after this one that will explain a lot of the stuff that doesn't make sense now. honest. i just need to finish this stupid thing first. .:wails:. i wasn't supposed to be this long!
i'm glad you enjoyed, sweetie. thanks for reading and commenting. you know comments are <3