E.R./X-Men: Allegiance [5/8]
Title: Allegiance
Fandoms: E.R./X-Men Movieverse
Spoilers: Up to the end of E.R. season 13, rewriting "I don't," rewriting X2, and ignoring everything that came afterwards on both fronts, except for some backstory borrowed from X3
Characters: Ray, Neela, Jean, Xavier, Abby, Cyclops, Kovac, Gates & pretty much all the X2 ensemble
Pairings: Ray/Neela, canon pairings
Wordcount: ~ 33,000 words
Rating: teen (PTSD, discussion of child abuse, mutant hate, things going boom)
Summary: Ray doesn't need the Professor to tell him that you can't outrun your past. But that doesn't mean he'll stop trying - even when his mutant powers destroy the life he has built in Chicago, and William Stryker targets his old team.
AN: This fic is a reimagination of X2 (and parts of E.R.), pretty much like the story might have worked out if Ray Barnett was a central comicverse character who thus had to have been a part of the movie. I hope that many people will have fun reading it no matter the fandom combination is so obscure! Thanks to gabilar94 for answering questions about Boston, and to millari, who did a fabulous job betaing. She, BTW, doesn't know either fandom, so if you're considering reading this despite only knowing one of them, I think it's absolutely worth a shot. Plus, there are fandom cheat sheets.
Fandom Cheat Sheet for those who don't know E.R. -- Fandom Cheat Sheet for those who don't know the X-Men Movieverse
Prologue -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Ray uneasily followed the direction of Neela's eyes when she came to a halt in the hallway that led past the students' common room. The girl she was looking at was Rogue, he saw - the girl Logan had brought along. The boy next to her - Bobby Drake, Ray's memory supplied after a moment - had leaned towards her, and she had edged away.
It had been twenty-four hours since Neela had shown up, and Ray still expected her to leave at the slightest upset. Rogue's posture was strangely mimicking how he felt himself.
"Is she alright?"
"Her mutation's in her skin," he provided, because he couldn't find a reason not to. "She'd absorb his mutation if she touched him, and kill him eventually. Hank and Jean are looking into ways for her to shut it down, but it's looking like she isn't meant to have one."
Neela frowned. "But that doesn't make any sense. If her mutation would prevent her from procreating..."
"...evolution will take care of itself, because she won't have any children and it won't take," Ray agreed. Evolutionary dead end. Textbook case. If it just was that simple for all of us. He looked at Rogue again. "Now explain that to her."
"Trust me, she already knows," a new voice chimed in. Neela jerked around, painfully reminding Ray that her front of confidence was very much a work in progress. "But even if she can't learn to control her powers, she has found a place that accepts her for who she is."
Of course it was Scott, strolling up to them. Smiling without joy, he turned his head at Rogue. "It might just be a matter of time, anyway. It took Hank and Charles over a year to find something that worked for me. I was effectively blind until I got these." He tapped at his glasses.
Neela studied them with interest. "How do they work?"
"Ruby quartz. It's the only thing that can stop the blasts. If you want to know why that is exactly, you should ask Hank. He has theories. We found out by trial and error."
"Does it work on your force fields, as well?"
She'd been looking at Ray, but Scott was faster to answer - probably out of the same malicious instinct that had made him intercept Neela the day before. "The configuration of Ray's and my power are very different," he said readily. "Mine ignites in the optic system. His is psionic in nature, and at least somewhat connected to the amygdala. Hence his secondary powers."
Neela turned to Ray in confusion. "You have a secondary mutation?"
"None worthy of mention," Ray said easily and focused on Scott, the meddling prick. "Is there anything you wanted?"
"Actually, yes. Sorry to interrupt." Scott fully turned towards him, and despite the casual way he was holding himself, a person who knew him well could see that he was play acting for Neela's sake. He was all Cyclops, leader of the X-Men. "Jean just called from Boston, and she made Charles think it would be good for the two of us to go to D.C. over night so we can ask... Eric a couple of questions." He grimaced at Ray to show that he didn't really think it was funny, then smoothly turned to Neela. "Eric is an old acquaintance of the school," he said. "We're hoping that he can clarify some things that Jean and Ororo learned in the professional development class they were taking today."
"He was a great physics teacher," Ray chimed in, just for sake of the dig. When Scott turned his head at him slowly, Ray knew he was glaring behind the glasses. He smirked nastily in return. Yes, he'd gotten it. Jean and 'Ro had found something in Boston that pointed towards Magneto. That probably was bad news, but not being an X-Man, Ray didn't see why he should care.
"Anyway," Scott said pointedly. "We should be back in time for the afternoon classes, but all the staff will be gone for the night. So I'll tell the kids to knock at your door if they need anything. It'd be great if you could do a round, check if everybody's minding curfew. Jubilee and Rogue have taken to sneaking off into 'Ro's garden at night to chat. And Jean reminded me to tell you that you shouldn't let the twins skip breakfast."
"Uhm, sure." Making sure to give Neela a questioning look, she shrugged an okay with a bit of a mystified smile - probably because she, too, thought that Ray in charge of a student body was weird. The sight made Ray long to reach out and touch her cheek despite everything. "Logan won't be around?"
"Oh, he's around." Scott grimaced. "How about I still put you in charge?"
It wasn't a question, as Ray noticed with a trace of amusement. If he hadn't liked Logan on first sight that was one thing, but Scott hadn't even used the opportunity for a dig about Ray's reliability. He'd have to investigate at some point. For now, they just made their goodbyes.
"Who's Logan?" Neela asked when Scott had left.
"A big scary man with a healing factor that hasn't exactly made him a nicer person," Ray replied easily. "Jean's current pet project for research."
"I'd rather be curious to see the research done on her condition," Neela said, nodding at Rogue. "There have been full tests, right?"
Ray hesitated. "Another pair of eyes won't hurt, I guess," he said, unwilling to involve Neela on another level that would lead to lies, but unable to find a way out. There had to be stuff about Magneto's machine in Jean's notes. "How about we ask her if she'd mind?"
---
"One hour. You'll be in bed at midnight." Ray gave the two girls his sternest look. "And don't think I wouldn't come check on you. I've got Dr. Rasgotra here to send into your dorms."
"Sure!" Jubilee beamed at him. "That's, like, loads of time."
"Thanks, Dr. Barnett," Rogue added serenely.
The two of them hurried off, whispering to each other just loud enough to hear when Jubilee bent over to her friend. "Dr. Grey would never let us stay up late. I told you he's way cooler than her. And younger."
"And hotter," Rogue shot back, utterly unaware how well exactly sound carried in this hallway. The girls turned a corner, leaving a fading explosion of giggles behind.
Neela was covering her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle a chuckle.
"Don't," Ray warned her. His attempt at the sternness failed when her whole face broke into a grimace from the attempt not to laugh at him out loud.
"What?" she said, spreading her arms in a defensive gesture when she followed him down the hall. "They're right."
That made him chuckle despite himself, because he'd never seen Neela quite that flirtatious before. It had been a whole day since she'd shown up, and the more she saw of the school and Ray's life and all the freakishness, it seemed like it all had just served to gradually set her more at ease. Her inquisitive nature seemed to have overruled her nerves, making her ask all kinds of questions - about how particular mutations worked, about how the school was run, about where the money for the equipment came from. Just like before in Chicago, she made Ray want to forget the nagging voice telling him that she didn't know anything, especially about him. It didn't exist if he forgot about it. She was here. Not with Gates in Chicago, but here. It made him shudder from a strange kind of awe, and that awe made him suspicious.
They were making their way down the hallway. Ray at least wasn't in a hurry to reach their respective rooms. Neela was teasing him about his hidden teaching skills and attempts at corrupting the young, one of which Ray strongly denied and one of which he blamed on Scott. It was easy to let the chit-chat wash over them, filling him with that sense of warmth and ease and Chicago that he'd come to associate with Neela. It doesn't exist. She doesn't know.
Reaching the guest room Neela had been assigned, Ray had been captivated by the tale of how Morris had last been holed up in a hotel room with Hope - too hard to believe to be true. And maybe he was trying a little too hard not to think of mutations, the reason they were here now, because otherwise he certainly wouldn't have allowed himself to forget Gates. Gates only came back to mind when he caught Neela's hand, finding himself pushing her against the wall very softly - a motion that felt so natural that he just followed through when it occured to him to do so. Neela didn't resist.
Screw Gates, Ray told himself viciously. Gates isn't here. She followed you here.
But she's going back and you aren't. And you're still a mutant.
It hurt, suddenly and unexpectedly, that now that she was here, there was such a fucking new mess standing between them that he couldn't do anything about - that she didn't know about, and hiding it from her made him no better than Tony Gates. No better at all.
Ray couldn't stop himself from staring at Neela's mouth. His body knew exactly what it wanted from her - hyper aware of the heat coming off her and the shallow sound of her breaths, the way her chest was raising and falling and almost touching his, but not quite.
She's here.
His eyes flickered back up to hers, and her gaze never left his when the quirk of her lips died, while she slumped against the wall. "It's over between me and Tony, Ray," she said softly. "We're done. I told him even before you fought with him, right after I'd talked to you. I've always wanted it to be you."
"You've said that before," Ray muttered, thinking of Gates and her, jumping each other's bones on a desk - one image that would possibly forever be etched into his mind.
She was so fucking close.
"I've meant it before," she said.
Ray wanted to believe her, he really did, but that was the fucking problem, that he always believed her until something came up and she...
Surrounded by the school that had tried so hard to make him an X-Man, it occurred to him, suddenly, that he could know.
If he just touched her, and lowered those shields in his head he tried not to ever think about, he could know if she really...
Noticing that he'd reached out to touch her cheek, Ray jerked his hand away as if he'd been burned.
"What is it?" she asked, searching his face nervously.
When he didn't immediately answer, she lowered her head, conflicting emotions on her face.
Damn.
Ray opened his mouth, closed it again. He... wanted to tell her, just to have told her - because she was here and maybe there was a chance she would stay. He'd always been terrible at letting her go.
"I've got some empathy." It wasn't that he'd never talked about it, but not all that often, and never with people who weren't like him. It felt strange, like using a word you knew you shouldn't use. Somehow, the empathy had always felt sleazier than the force fields. "That's the secondary mutation Scott was talking about. I could feel some of what you're feeling, if I touched you. It's not... a big power, but it's there."
Neela's body shifted a little under his. Ray froze. But a second passed by and she didn't retreat, but raised her head again to search his face. Not scared or cautiously. Inquisitively. She'd made a choice coming here, she'd said. She'd always wanted it to be him. Even before Michael died. She'd said. It had felt like it at the time, too, but...
She said, cautiously, "Have you ever?"
"No." A beat. "I ignore it when it happens by accident."
Feelings didn't matter - actions did. It had never mattered how she felt as long as she said no. It had never mattered how he felt about empathy, either, he'd still gone and fucked every woman he could find to substitute for using it.
"Maybe you should." Neela blushed, lowering her eyes. "Some time."
The topic hadn't made him think of sex by accident. Inanely, those words felt like the hottest thing Ray had ever heard; he had to fight a sudden urge to get closer, feel all her body on his, and fucking kiss her already.
There was a little voice telling him that the smart thing would be to wait until he was ready to trust her more, until he could dare to actually combine those two things, and a louder one to remind him how that wouldn't happen because it never happened and because she would leave. She'd go back to Chicago and he'd have to stay.
But Neela was the one who coiled his shirt around her hand and drew him in.
Any words of resistance died before they could reach his mouth.
Neela pulled herself up on her toes, her lips touching his - finally. Ray shut off his brain. Who cared about mutants and empathy when none of these things had ever stood between them before? The ones that had were gone, left behind in Chicago and Neela's lips were still that magnetic mix of determination and softness...
Two corridors down, one of the children screamed, suddenly - noise ringing through half of the wing.
Ray froze in mid-motion. He closed his eyes, and groaned.
"I'll kill them." Everybody was supposed to be asleep.
Neela chuckled against his cheek.
"You should make sure that everything's alright."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not going anywhere," Neela said innocently. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather make sure we don't get interrupted by a little girl with nightmares."
The nervous tension was gone, the guilt of lying washed away. Ray wouldn't be proud of it later on, but his sudden relieved arousal made him forget the issues. Just like days had gone by in Chicago when he'd just forgotten that he was a mutant, all the parts of his life before he'd been a doctor. He smirked at Neela in answer, her cheeks coloring in a nervously happy dark shade.
"Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." The words had been on his tongue, but they never had a chance to materialize.
Pushing himself off the wall, Ray found himself face-to-face with three camouflaged figures holding sniper rifles who'd just turned the corner.
They had sniper rifles. Camouflage gear. In the middle of the fucking school.
And not a moment to think. Everything within him just blared danger and Neela, and military, and between that and a fear cultivated by the media - whispered stories about mutants who'd vanished - Ray just reacted, his instincts honed by X-Men missions and Lehnsherr. His hand shot up, pressure building in his forehead, then his whole body. At the same time that the three men cocked their guns at them, a whole-body move released a perfectly aimed force field at them, knocking them to the ground. They just fell, swift, eerily quiet.
Just like that.
They didn't get up.
Swaying in search for balance, Ray was still staring, unable to turn his eyes away or comprehend what had just happened.
"Oh my god oh my god, Ray!" Neela was exclaiming in one long exhaled breath, and he didn't need to turn to know she'd paled, unsuccessful in trying to process the last seconds.
That was when Siryn started screaming somewhere in the house, sonic blast piercing right in his ear while windows broke out of their frames, vases crashed to the ground.
All hell broke lose.
"We're under attack! This way!" Ray barked at Neela, blindly reaching for her hand and dragging her along, towards the fallen soldiers - towards the dorms. His mind snapped back into place, firing up and screaming orders at him. No matter what it all meant. Military. At the school. Attacking Siryn, who was eight... silencers... and they'd come when they knew the Professor would be gone, his appointment at prison arranged for by the them.
The sounds of helicopters were suddenly loud in the air, broken windows allowing the sound to carry through the building, cold night air drifting at them.
Ray could hear Neela scream his name at him through the noise that had suddenly started ringing through the building, soldiers bellowing commands at each other and the sound of steps, heavy enough to carry through the carpets, everywhere in the house. But, the children - there was no time. "Come along!" he shouted back. No time for reassurances, for anything. Just act.
Another group of gunmen turned the corner, and Ray's hand was up again before he could think. This time, he could see the darts they fired hitting the force field, building up right between them and just pushing forward in the same pace he moved, running them over with the force of a train. They fell. He'd barely had to concentrate. Neela stumbled when they circled around the soldiers, looking back maybe to see if they were alive, but Ray didn't even think to slow down. The sounds of helicopters were getting louder, blinding lights shining through the windows. Not daring to lower the hand he used to move the force fields, Ray grabbed Neela's harder with the other, fastening his pace. They had to get out. Neela, and whatever kid they could...
Neela screamed in surprise when two figures stumbled around the corner, and Ray's heart was pounding through his chest when he realized he'd almost attacked two students, dressed for bed. They were two of the oldest - Bobby who he'd seen alongside Rogue, and another, who he couldn't remember having met.
"Dr. Barnett!" Bobby managed when he saw them, desperately trying to catch his breath. "Rogue and Jubilee are still in Miss Munroe's garden."
Ray was just as desperately trying to gather his thoughts. "That's the other part of the building," he managed. "No chance to get there now."
"What if we..." the other boy chimed in, but Ray cut him off.
"No time. Follow us! Now!"
"Are you daft?!" Neela sounded near hysterical when the boys didn't immediately move. "They have guns! Come along!"
It took that, but the two boys exchanged a look, following them when Ray was already in motion again. He didn't dare turn around to look at Neela, scared by the potential distraction, scared of what he might see. Military at the school. Black ops. What the hell? What the fuck had Xavier and Scott gotten Westchester involved in?
If soldiers had come to the school, they'd come for the team, the adults. But they had to know the X-Men were gone, the jet was gone. The children then. They had come for the children. And Ray had trained to be an X-Man, had run a couple of missions with the team when it got started, but nothing had prepared him for this.
Cue Logan turning the corner, never breaking his stride.
Blood was covering his shirt, the claws Ray had only read about before extended. He looked like Death walking. Ray would never have guessed the relief he felt upon seeing this man.
"Big kid got some of the other kids out," Logan said, head turning from Neela to Ray to the boys, settling on Bobby, the whole situation immediately perceived. "Where's Rogue?"
"She and Jubilee went to the rose garden," Bobby stuttered. "Behind the east wing of the school."
"You can't just go there!" Ray sharply stopped him when the other man just turned. Okay, so apparently Logan was able to walk through a place swarming with soldiers and survive, seeing as he'd already done it once, but still, that didn't mean the plan wasn't crazy.
"We have to get to the lower levels, get out of the house. They must have come from that side, they've already got her. They'll just get the hell out and take her along if they know you're coming!"
Wolverine grimaced, but nodded an affirmation that he obviously hated. "What's the fastest way down?"
I let them stay outside when it wasn't allowed, Ray thought, muttering a curse. Everybody was in danger everywhere, helicopter engines still loud enough for their voices to be drowned out. He didn't know any of these kids well yet - but God, Jubilee - but there was Neela, too, and he knew he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her because of him, because of his fucked up life. She was still clinging to his arm. Neela was remarkably brave, he knew that, but this was war - too much to take in for Ray as well.
Ray hadn't been familiar with the school for years, so it was the boys who provided directions, showing Logan the way to the closest passageway. Grinding his teeth, Ray let go of Neela with an order to stay close, taking the lead next to Wolverine, his powers better equipped for dealing with attacks in a safe way. The other mutant didn't hesitate when a soldier made it past a force field, claws ramming into the man's chest before he could even understand what was happening. The boys were just staring, tense and quiet and pale, both at the ready to use their powers if they had to. It might just have been his nightmarish imagination playing tricks on him, but Ray thought he heard Neela trying not to sob.
A hidden passageway cut open with impatient claws later, they were running through a lower level corridor, silent except for their feet on the steel tiles. The noise from the school and outside could barely be heard down here, except maybe for Wolverine, who seemed to be listening intently.
They passed through the team equipment room, but there was nothing here that they could use - the uniforms, Scott's substitute visor, jet manuals - adornments of the X-Men, whose dream was breaking into bits fifty feet above them. Only for the emergency kit at the wall did Ray pause, shoving it into Neela's arms. It was the first time he looked at her. Fear was etched into her face. "Take that for medical emergencies," he heard himself say, snatching a couple of the team phones off a shelf on impulse. They'd have to contact Scott and Jean. If the Professor hadn't already sensed his kids's terror.
Breaking through an emergency exit into the scrubland behind this part of the school, they came to a halt and stared at the helicopters, circling the school like they were examining an especially interesting cage full of bugs. Cold night air was piercing underneath Ray's shirt.
"There's no way of getting Rogue out of there anymore!" he shouted at Logan when the other man went into motion again; he'd barely even oriented himself.
Logan glanced at him sharply. "I've got unfinished business there, bub," he shouted. "I'm catching a ride!"
"How in hell do you suppose to do that?" That was Neela. Ray would almost have laughed at the absurdity of hearing her channel all emotions into anger about Logan's unbelievable daftness.
Logan grimaced. "Ain't the first time," he shouted. "Oxygen's not a problem as high as helicopters go up! I'll jump off before they land!" He looked up. "I think I've done it before!"
"You think?" Ray repeated.
"The garage is full of fast cars. Jean's in Boston. Go there!"
"You're nuts!" Neela shouted after him, but Logan seemed to consider the conversation finished.
"Hey!" Waiting for the other man to turn around a last time, Ray threw one of the phones at him. It was the only thing he could think of to influence the decision. He had a really bad feeling that this man knew exactly what he was doing, just like he had when fighting those soldiers. Logan was a killer. Nobody in his path would survive. "Give us a call once you know where they are. Jean and 'Ro still have the jet. They'll come."
There was a calculating pause, and Logan nodded. A second later, he had melted into the shadows, ready to extend his powers to excruciating lengths because of a girl, because he had promised.
Unable to not look at Neela standing close by his side, Ray suddenly thought that, maybe, he understood at least that sentiment.
on to the next part
I'd usually consider it bad form to ask for reviews, but... I could use some cheering up today? :)
Fandoms: E.R./X-Men Movieverse
Spoilers: Up to the end of E.R. season 13, rewriting "I don't," rewriting X2, and ignoring everything that came afterwards on both fronts, except for some backstory borrowed from X3
Characters: Ray, Neela, Jean, Xavier, Abby, Cyclops, Kovac, Gates & pretty much all the X2 ensemble
Pairings: Ray/Neela, canon pairings
Wordcount: ~ 33,000 words
Rating: teen (PTSD, discussion of child abuse, mutant hate, things going boom)
Summary: Ray doesn't need the Professor to tell him that you can't outrun your past. But that doesn't mean he'll stop trying - even when his mutant powers destroy the life he has built in Chicago, and William Stryker targets his old team.
AN: This fic is a reimagination of X2 (and parts of E.R.), pretty much like the story might have worked out if Ray Barnett was a central comicverse character who thus had to have been a part of the movie. I hope that many people will have fun reading it no matter the fandom combination is so obscure! Thanks to gabilar94 for answering questions about Boston, and to millari, who did a fabulous job betaing. She, BTW, doesn't know either fandom, so if you're considering reading this despite only knowing one of them, I think it's absolutely worth a shot. Plus, there are fandom cheat sheets.
Fandom Cheat Sheet for those who don't know E.R. -- Fandom Cheat Sheet for those who don't know the X-Men Movieverse
Prologue -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Ray uneasily followed the direction of Neela's eyes when she came to a halt in the hallway that led past the students' common room. The girl she was looking at was Rogue, he saw - the girl Logan had brought along. The boy next to her - Bobby Drake, Ray's memory supplied after a moment - had leaned towards her, and she had edged away.
It had been twenty-four hours since Neela had shown up, and Ray still expected her to leave at the slightest upset. Rogue's posture was strangely mimicking how he felt himself.
"Is she alright?"
"Her mutation's in her skin," he provided, because he couldn't find a reason not to. "She'd absorb his mutation if she touched him, and kill him eventually. Hank and Jean are looking into ways for her to shut it down, but it's looking like she isn't meant to have one."
Neela frowned. "But that doesn't make any sense. If her mutation would prevent her from procreating..."
"...evolution will take care of itself, because she won't have any children and it won't take," Ray agreed. Evolutionary dead end. Textbook case. If it just was that simple for all of us. He looked at Rogue again. "Now explain that to her."
"Trust me, she already knows," a new voice chimed in. Neela jerked around, painfully reminding Ray that her front of confidence was very much a work in progress. "But even if she can't learn to control her powers, she has found a place that accepts her for who she is."
Of course it was Scott, strolling up to them. Smiling without joy, he turned his head at Rogue. "It might just be a matter of time, anyway. It took Hank and Charles over a year to find something that worked for me. I was effectively blind until I got these." He tapped at his glasses.
Neela studied them with interest. "How do they work?"
"Ruby quartz. It's the only thing that can stop the blasts. If you want to know why that is exactly, you should ask Hank. He has theories. We found out by trial and error."
"Does it work on your force fields, as well?"
She'd been looking at Ray, but Scott was faster to answer - probably out of the same malicious instinct that had made him intercept Neela the day before. "The configuration of Ray's and my power are very different," he said readily. "Mine ignites in the optic system. His is psionic in nature, and at least somewhat connected to the amygdala. Hence his secondary powers."
Neela turned to Ray in confusion. "You have a secondary mutation?"
"None worthy of mention," Ray said easily and focused on Scott, the meddling prick. "Is there anything you wanted?"
"Actually, yes. Sorry to interrupt." Scott fully turned towards him, and despite the casual way he was holding himself, a person who knew him well could see that he was play acting for Neela's sake. He was all Cyclops, leader of the X-Men. "Jean just called from Boston, and she made Charles think it would be good for the two of us to go to D.C. over night so we can ask... Eric a couple of questions." He grimaced at Ray to show that he didn't really think it was funny, then smoothly turned to Neela. "Eric is an old acquaintance of the school," he said. "We're hoping that he can clarify some things that Jean and Ororo learned in the professional development class they were taking today."
"He was a great physics teacher," Ray chimed in, just for sake of the dig. When Scott turned his head at him slowly, Ray knew he was glaring behind the glasses. He smirked nastily in return. Yes, he'd gotten it. Jean and 'Ro had found something in Boston that pointed towards Magneto. That probably was bad news, but not being an X-Man, Ray didn't see why he should care.
"Anyway," Scott said pointedly. "We should be back in time for the afternoon classes, but all the staff will be gone for the night. So I'll tell the kids to knock at your door if they need anything. It'd be great if you could do a round, check if everybody's minding curfew. Jubilee and Rogue have taken to sneaking off into 'Ro's garden at night to chat. And Jean reminded me to tell you that you shouldn't let the twins skip breakfast."
"Uhm, sure." Making sure to give Neela a questioning look, she shrugged an okay with a bit of a mystified smile - probably because she, too, thought that Ray in charge of a student body was weird. The sight made Ray long to reach out and touch her cheek despite everything. "Logan won't be around?"
"Oh, he's around." Scott grimaced. "How about I still put you in charge?"
It wasn't a question, as Ray noticed with a trace of amusement. If he hadn't liked Logan on first sight that was one thing, but Scott hadn't even used the opportunity for a dig about Ray's reliability. He'd have to investigate at some point. For now, they just made their goodbyes.
"Who's Logan?" Neela asked when Scott had left.
"A big scary man with a healing factor that hasn't exactly made him a nicer person," Ray replied easily. "Jean's current pet project for research."
"I'd rather be curious to see the research done on her condition," Neela said, nodding at Rogue. "There have been full tests, right?"
Ray hesitated. "Another pair of eyes won't hurt, I guess," he said, unwilling to involve Neela on another level that would lead to lies, but unable to find a way out. There had to be stuff about Magneto's machine in Jean's notes. "How about we ask her if she'd mind?"
---
"One hour. You'll be in bed at midnight." Ray gave the two girls his sternest look. "And don't think I wouldn't come check on you. I've got Dr. Rasgotra here to send into your dorms."
"Sure!" Jubilee beamed at him. "That's, like, loads of time."
"Thanks, Dr. Barnett," Rogue added serenely.
The two of them hurried off, whispering to each other just loud enough to hear when Jubilee bent over to her friend. "Dr. Grey would never let us stay up late. I told you he's way cooler than her. And younger."
"And hotter," Rogue shot back, utterly unaware how well exactly sound carried in this hallway. The girls turned a corner, leaving a fading explosion of giggles behind.
Neela was covering her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle a chuckle.
"Don't," Ray warned her. His attempt at the sternness failed when her whole face broke into a grimace from the attempt not to laugh at him out loud.
"What?" she said, spreading her arms in a defensive gesture when she followed him down the hall. "They're right."
That made him chuckle despite himself, because he'd never seen Neela quite that flirtatious before. It had been a whole day since she'd shown up, and the more she saw of the school and Ray's life and all the freakishness, it seemed like it all had just served to gradually set her more at ease. Her inquisitive nature seemed to have overruled her nerves, making her ask all kinds of questions - about how particular mutations worked, about how the school was run, about where the money for the equipment came from. Just like before in Chicago, she made Ray want to forget the nagging voice telling him that she didn't know anything, especially about him. It didn't exist if he forgot about it. She was here. Not with Gates in Chicago, but here. It made him shudder from a strange kind of awe, and that awe made him suspicious.
They were making their way down the hallway. Ray at least wasn't in a hurry to reach their respective rooms. Neela was teasing him about his hidden teaching skills and attempts at corrupting the young, one of which Ray strongly denied and one of which he blamed on Scott. It was easy to let the chit-chat wash over them, filling him with that sense of warmth and ease and Chicago that he'd come to associate with Neela. It doesn't exist. She doesn't know.
Reaching the guest room Neela had been assigned, Ray had been captivated by the tale of how Morris had last been holed up in a hotel room with Hope - too hard to believe to be true. And maybe he was trying a little too hard not to think of mutations, the reason they were here now, because otherwise he certainly wouldn't have allowed himself to forget Gates. Gates only came back to mind when he caught Neela's hand, finding himself pushing her against the wall very softly - a motion that felt so natural that he just followed through when it occured to him to do so. Neela didn't resist.
Screw Gates, Ray told himself viciously. Gates isn't here. She followed you here.
But she's going back and you aren't. And you're still a mutant.
It hurt, suddenly and unexpectedly, that now that she was here, there was such a fucking new mess standing between them that he couldn't do anything about - that she didn't know about, and hiding it from her made him no better than Tony Gates. No better at all.
Ray couldn't stop himself from staring at Neela's mouth. His body knew exactly what it wanted from her - hyper aware of the heat coming off her and the shallow sound of her breaths, the way her chest was raising and falling and almost touching his, but not quite.
She's here.
His eyes flickered back up to hers, and her gaze never left his when the quirk of her lips died, while she slumped against the wall. "It's over between me and Tony, Ray," she said softly. "We're done. I told him even before you fought with him, right after I'd talked to you. I've always wanted it to be you."
"You've said that before," Ray muttered, thinking of Gates and her, jumping each other's bones on a desk - one image that would possibly forever be etched into his mind.
She was so fucking close.
"I've meant it before," she said.
Ray wanted to believe her, he really did, but that was the fucking problem, that he always believed her until something came up and she...
Surrounded by the school that had tried so hard to make him an X-Man, it occurred to him, suddenly, that he could know.
If he just touched her, and lowered those shields in his head he tried not to ever think about, he could know if she really...
Noticing that he'd reached out to touch her cheek, Ray jerked his hand away as if he'd been burned.
"What is it?" she asked, searching his face nervously.
When he didn't immediately answer, she lowered her head, conflicting emotions on her face.
Damn.
Ray opened his mouth, closed it again. He... wanted to tell her, just to have told her - because she was here and maybe there was a chance she would stay. He'd always been terrible at letting her go.
"I've got some empathy." It wasn't that he'd never talked about it, but not all that often, and never with people who weren't like him. It felt strange, like using a word you knew you shouldn't use. Somehow, the empathy had always felt sleazier than the force fields. "That's the secondary mutation Scott was talking about. I could feel some of what you're feeling, if I touched you. It's not... a big power, but it's there."
Neela's body shifted a little under his. Ray froze. But a second passed by and she didn't retreat, but raised her head again to search his face. Not scared or cautiously. Inquisitively. She'd made a choice coming here, she'd said. She'd always wanted it to be him. Even before Michael died. She'd said. It had felt like it at the time, too, but...
She said, cautiously, "Have you ever?"
"No." A beat. "I ignore it when it happens by accident."
Feelings didn't matter - actions did. It had never mattered how she felt as long as she said no. It had never mattered how he felt about empathy, either, he'd still gone and fucked every woman he could find to substitute for using it.
"Maybe you should." Neela blushed, lowering her eyes. "Some time."
The topic hadn't made him think of sex by accident. Inanely, those words felt like the hottest thing Ray had ever heard; he had to fight a sudden urge to get closer, feel all her body on his, and fucking kiss her already.
There was a little voice telling him that the smart thing would be to wait until he was ready to trust her more, until he could dare to actually combine those two things, and a louder one to remind him how that wouldn't happen because it never happened and because she would leave. She'd go back to Chicago and he'd have to stay.
But Neela was the one who coiled his shirt around her hand and drew him in.
Any words of resistance died before they could reach his mouth.
Neela pulled herself up on her toes, her lips touching his - finally. Ray shut off his brain. Who cared about mutants and empathy when none of these things had ever stood between them before? The ones that had were gone, left behind in Chicago and Neela's lips were still that magnetic mix of determination and softness...
Two corridors down, one of the children screamed, suddenly - noise ringing through half of the wing.
Ray froze in mid-motion. He closed his eyes, and groaned.
"I'll kill them." Everybody was supposed to be asleep.
Neela chuckled against his cheek.
"You should make sure that everything's alright."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not going anywhere," Neela said innocently. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather make sure we don't get interrupted by a little girl with nightmares."
The nervous tension was gone, the guilt of lying washed away. Ray wouldn't be proud of it later on, but his sudden relieved arousal made him forget the issues. Just like days had gone by in Chicago when he'd just forgotten that he was a mutant, all the parts of his life before he'd been a doctor. He smirked at Neela in answer, her cheeks coloring in a nervously happy dark shade.
"Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." The words had been on his tongue, but they never had a chance to materialize.
Pushing himself off the wall, Ray found himself face-to-face with three camouflaged figures holding sniper rifles who'd just turned the corner.
They had sniper rifles. Camouflage gear. In the middle of the fucking school.
And not a moment to think. Everything within him just blared danger and Neela, and military, and between that and a fear cultivated by the media - whispered stories about mutants who'd vanished - Ray just reacted, his instincts honed by X-Men missions and Lehnsherr. His hand shot up, pressure building in his forehead, then his whole body. At the same time that the three men cocked their guns at them, a whole-body move released a perfectly aimed force field at them, knocking them to the ground. They just fell, swift, eerily quiet.
Just like that.
They didn't get up.
Swaying in search for balance, Ray was still staring, unable to turn his eyes away or comprehend what had just happened.
"Oh my god oh my god, Ray!" Neela was exclaiming in one long exhaled breath, and he didn't need to turn to know she'd paled, unsuccessful in trying to process the last seconds.
That was when Siryn started screaming somewhere in the house, sonic blast piercing right in his ear while windows broke out of their frames, vases crashed to the ground.
All hell broke lose.
"We're under attack! This way!" Ray barked at Neela, blindly reaching for her hand and dragging her along, towards the fallen soldiers - towards the dorms. His mind snapped back into place, firing up and screaming orders at him. No matter what it all meant. Military. At the school. Attacking Siryn, who was eight... silencers... and they'd come when they knew the Professor would be gone, his appointment at prison arranged for by the them.
The sounds of helicopters were suddenly loud in the air, broken windows allowing the sound to carry through the building, cold night air drifting at them.
Ray could hear Neela scream his name at him through the noise that had suddenly started ringing through the building, soldiers bellowing commands at each other and the sound of steps, heavy enough to carry through the carpets, everywhere in the house. But, the children - there was no time. "Come along!" he shouted back. No time for reassurances, for anything. Just act.
Another group of gunmen turned the corner, and Ray's hand was up again before he could think. This time, he could see the darts they fired hitting the force field, building up right between them and just pushing forward in the same pace he moved, running them over with the force of a train. They fell. He'd barely had to concentrate. Neela stumbled when they circled around the soldiers, looking back maybe to see if they were alive, but Ray didn't even think to slow down. The sounds of helicopters were getting louder, blinding lights shining through the windows. Not daring to lower the hand he used to move the force fields, Ray grabbed Neela's harder with the other, fastening his pace. They had to get out. Neela, and whatever kid they could...
Neela screamed in surprise when two figures stumbled around the corner, and Ray's heart was pounding through his chest when he realized he'd almost attacked two students, dressed for bed. They were two of the oldest - Bobby who he'd seen alongside Rogue, and another, who he couldn't remember having met.
"Dr. Barnett!" Bobby managed when he saw them, desperately trying to catch his breath. "Rogue and Jubilee are still in Miss Munroe's garden."
Ray was just as desperately trying to gather his thoughts. "That's the other part of the building," he managed. "No chance to get there now."
"What if we..." the other boy chimed in, but Ray cut him off.
"No time. Follow us! Now!"
"Are you daft?!" Neela sounded near hysterical when the boys didn't immediately move. "They have guns! Come along!"
It took that, but the two boys exchanged a look, following them when Ray was already in motion again. He didn't dare turn around to look at Neela, scared by the potential distraction, scared of what he might see. Military at the school. Black ops. What the hell? What the fuck had Xavier and Scott gotten Westchester involved in?
If soldiers had come to the school, they'd come for the team, the adults. But they had to know the X-Men were gone, the jet was gone. The children then. They had come for the children. And Ray had trained to be an X-Man, had run a couple of missions with the team when it got started, but nothing had prepared him for this.
Cue Logan turning the corner, never breaking his stride.
Blood was covering his shirt, the claws Ray had only read about before extended. He looked like Death walking. Ray would never have guessed the relief he felt upon seeing this man.
"Big kid got some of the other kids out," Logan said, head turning from Neela to Ray to the boys, settling on Bobby, the whole situation immediately perceived. "Where's Rogue?"
"She and Jubilee went to the rose garden," Bobby stuttered. "Behind the east wing of the school."
"You can't just go there!" Ray sharply stopped him when the other man just turned. Okay, so apparently Logan was able to walk through a place swarming with soldiers and survive, seeing as he'd already done it once, but still, that didn't mean the plan wasn't crazy.
"We have to get to the lower levels, get out of the house. They must have come from that side, they've already got her. They'll just get the hell out and take her along if they know you're coming!"
Wolverine grimaced, but nodded an affirmation that he obviously hated. "What's the fastest way down?"
I let them stay outside when it wasn't allowed, Ray thought, muttering a curse. Everybody was in danger everywhere, helicopter engines still loud enough for their voices to be drowned out. He didn't know any of these kids well yet - but God, Jubilee - but there was Neela, too, and he knew he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her because of him, because of his fucked up life. She was still clinging to his arm. Neela was remarkably brave, he knew that, but this was war - too much to take in for Ray as well.
Ray hadn't been familiar with the school for years, so it was the boys who provided directions, showing Logan the way to the closest passageway. Grinding his teeth, Ray let go of Neela with an order to stay close, taking the lead next to Wolverine, his powers better equipped for dealing with attacks in a safe way. The other mutant didn't hesitate when a soldier made it past a force field, claws ramming into the man's chest before he could even understand what was happening. The boys were just staring, tense and quiet and pale, both at the ready to use their powers if they had to. It might just have been his nightmarish imagination playing tricks on him, but Ray thought he heard Neela trying not to sob.
A hidden passageway cut open with impatient claws later, they were running through a lower level corridor, silent except for their feet on the steel tiles. The noise from the school and outside could barely be heard down here, except maybe for Wolverine, who seemed to be listening intently.
They passed through the team equipment room, but there was nothing here that they could use - the uniforms, Scott's substitute visor, jet manuals - adornments of the X-Men, whose dream was breaking into bits fifty feet above them. Only for the emergency kit at the wall did Ray pause, shoving it into Neela's arms. It was the first time he looked at her. Fear was etched into her face. "Take that for medical emergencies," he heard himself say, snatching a couple of the team phones off a shelf on impulse. They'd have to contact Scott and Jean. If the Professor hadn't already sensed his kids's terror.
Breaking through an emergency exit into the scrubland behind this part of the school, they came to a halt and stared at the helicopters, circling the school like they were examining an especially interesting cage full of bugs. Cold night air was piercing underneath Ray's shirt.
"There's no way of getting Rogue out of there anymore!" he shouted at Logan when the other man went into motion again; he'd barely even oriented himself.
Logan glanced at him sharply. "I've got unfinished business there, bub," he shouted. "I'm catching a ride!"
"How in hell do you suppose to do that?" That was Neela. Ray would almost have laughed at the absurdity of hearing her channel all emotions into anger about Logan's unbelievable daftness.
Logan grimaced. "Ain't the first time," he shouted. "Oxygen's not a problem as high as helicopters go up! I'll jump off before they land!" He looked up. "I think I've done it before!"
"You think?" Ray repeated.
"The garage is full of fast cars. Jean's in Boston. Go there!"
"You're nuts!" Neela shouted after him, but Logan seemed to consider the conversation finished.
"Hey!" Waiting for the other man to turn around a last time, Ray threw one of the phones at him. It was the only thing he could think of to influence the decision. He had a really bad feeling that this man knew exactly what he was doing, just like he had when fighting those soldiers. Logan was a killer. Nobody in his path would survive. "Give us a call once you know where they are. Jean and 'Ro still have the jet. They'll come."
There was a calculating pause, and Logan nodded. A second later, he had melted into the shadows, ready to extend his powers to excruciating lengths because of a girl, because he had promised.
Unable to not look at Neela standing close by his side, Ray suddenly thought that, maybe, he understood at least that sentiment.
on to the next part
I'd usually consider it bad form to ask for reviews, but... I could use some cheering up today? :)