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“Plague Chapter Five”
RATING: M (some swearing and a little bit of violence)
SUMMARY: Alex’s dreams intensify and she finds out the fate of an old friend.
FEEDBACK: I’m always eager to hear your views so please contact me and let me know at tanyajoy74@hotmail.com
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The next morning a tired Alex was sitting in the dining room eating a bowl of cereal. Although the room was already half full she was sitting all alone.
"Hey can Ah sit here?"
Alex looked up and almost fell out of her seat in shock. It was the girl, the one with the white streak, who she had seen in her nightmare last night. There she was standing next to the table holding a fully loaded tray.
"Um, uh sure. Sure you can," Alex managed to stammer out.
The girl sat down and started off loading the plates onto the table. Alex looked on bemused at the quantity of food. There was a bowl of cereal; a plate heaped full of bacon, eggs and sausages, one glass of OJ, and a large cup of steaming coffee.
The girl looked up and noticed Alex's expression. "It's not all for me," she held out a gloved hand. "Hi, Ah'm Rogue."
Alex took the hand and shook it. "Alex," she replied. "Who is it for?"
"Me." Both women looked up to see
He sat down and pulled the bacon and eggs towards him with one hand while he gulped down a mouthful of coffee with the other. Rogue grinned at Alex before starting into her breakfast.
"What kind of name is Rogue, anyway?" Alex asked.
"My name," Rogue replied. "At least it's not as bad as
his," she jerked a finger in
"What do you mean?"
"His other name is Wolverine."
"Wolverine?" Alex looked over at
"Most people around here have their real name and a kinda
code-name that matches their abilities. And then of course there's
"What kinda names?"
"Well," Rogue ticked off her fingers. "Mr. Summer's other name is Cyclops, Ms Munroe's is Storm, stuff like that."
Alex stopped eating and thought about what Rogue had just said. One of those names had rung a bell deep in her subconscious. "Huh, weird," she finally replied.
"Have you got a name yet?" Rogue asked.
Alex snorted. "Not likely."
"We'll see,"
Alex pointed a spoon across the room to where a table full of boys was busily demolishing pancakes.
"You should think about getting him his own place,"
"Bought you home?" Rogue asked, intrigued.
"Mind ya own business, Marie,"
"He's just tired, I guess," Alex said. "Especially after what happened last night."
"I'm not surprised. You got quite a set of lungs on ya,"
"Hey!" Alex said.
Yes between you and Logan here," Rogue said. "None of us will ever get a decent nights sleep."
Alex looked questioningly from Rogue to
"Nightmares,"
Rogue leaned forwards and spoke conspiratorially to Alex. "Piece
of advice. Don't ever try and wake
"Jeez kid. I'm sorry that happened and I apologised,
remember?"
"Ah know," Rogue leant back and tipped her head sideways too
gently bump
Alex looked at the reduced pile of food in front of
"Everyday."
"Aren't you worried about your cholesterol level? That’s heart attack food sitting there."
"Nah. There's much more interesting things out there just itching to kill me."
Rogue picked up an apple from Alex's side of the table. "Shame we don't have a clean knife or we could halve this."
"He slices, he dices," Alex said. "Say can you make french-fries too?"
"Dunno,"
"Eeww, Logan, and not very PC." Rogue replied. She looked closely at the pieces of apple. "Ah hope your claws were clean."
"Christ kid quit naggin'."
Picking up one of the apple quarters Alex bit into it. "When do you think Xavier will want to see me?"
"After breakfast is my bet,"
"I don’t want to have to explain it twice. Just wait will you?"
"Waiting is something I'm not so good at,"
"Learn," Rogue said.
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It was decided to hold the meeting later in the afternoon, when classes were over and all the senior members could attend.
Alex found herself sitting nervously in Xavier's office surrounded by the Professor, Scott, Jean, 'Ro and Logan.
"It seems you had quite a nightmare, last night," Xavier began.
Alex looked down at her sneakers. "Yeah, sorry."
"No need to apologise, Alexandra," Xavier settled himself more comfortably in his chair. "I am curious as to what it was about, though."
Alex looked across at Jean. "What did she tell you?"
"Only that she had sensed something disturbing and it would be better if you told us yourself."
Alex worked her fingers through her hair. "God this is gonna sound lame," she began.
"Spit it out,"
"Right," Alex gave
"A skeleton called Death?" Scott said.
"Yep it's got everything but the scythe and the horse called Binky."
Jean shrugged. ::I have no idea::. She mentally told him.
"Maybe," Ororo said. "This is just some by-product of your rather stressful week?" Or your over active imagination, her glance seemed to imply.
"Well this is the second time I've met the thing," Alex said. "The first time it scratched me in my dreams as a 'token of its affection', so it said." Alex leant forward rolling up her sleeve. All there present could see a thin rectangle of gauze on her arm. Alex ripped the bandage off to reveal a barely healed shallow gash that instantly started to ooze blood. "I woke up with this," Alex said. "Are you going to say I did this to myself?"
Xavier maneuvered his wheelchair until he was positioned in front of Alex. "Can I look into your mind?"
"I don't know," Alex leaned backwards. "I don't like the thought of other people poking around in there."
"I promise only to look at the dreams, Alexandra. I think it's necessary to see whether this creature, and its threats, really exists."
Alex's gaze flicked towards the others in the room, looking for some reassurance.
"It'll be all right," Jean said.
"Don't worry darlin' he does it to me all the
time and I'm fine,"
"That's debatable," Scott muttered.
"Okay, I guess," Alex finally said. "What do I do?"
Xavier leant forward and gently placed his hands on either side of her head. "Just relax. I'll do everything."
Alex smirked. "Right I've heard that one before."
Charles Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated. "I'm having trouble getting through your barriers, can you relax them?"
"Barriers?" Alex seemed genuinely surprised. "What barriers?"
"Jean, perhaps you can assist me?"
Jean moved over to stand behind Alex. She placed her hands over the Professor's and closed her eyes. "Is this better?" she asked.
Xavier replied after a minute's hesitation. "Yes."
Jean moved away from the pair and returned to her seat.
The creator of the X-Men mentally found the two nightmares and quickly walked through them – always making sure he stayed in the background, observing but never interfering. He frowned; these were no ordinary dreams. The creature that called itself Death was real. It had somehow insinuated itself onto Alex's subconscious, manipulating her reactions, and inflicting actual pain. If this Death was real then its threats had to be treated accordingly.
Charles opened his eyes, took his hands away from Alex's head and sagged into his chair. "The creature exists," he stated.
"What?" various versions of this question were thrown at him.
Xavier held up his hands for silence. "It exists. Now the question remains what is it and how do we deal with it?"
Jean frowned. "For something to exert its influence on another human, especially one with Alex's barriers, indicates another mutant," she turned to Xavier. "Wouldn't you agree Professor?"
Xavier nodded. "Yes and that worries me. I haven't sensed any other mutant with that sort of talent."
"Wait a damn minute,"
"Good point," said Alex. "Especially since I get the impression that all mutants are gonna get the flick. Wouldn't that include this Death person?"
"And more importantly," Scott said. "Is how?"
Xavier rubbed his head. "This requires more research," he said. "Thank you, Alexandra. If the others would stay behind we need to discuss the school curriculum for next term."
Alex stood up, she was certain that Xavier wanted the others to stay so they could talk about her, but for once she didn't mind. If anyone might find a way to get rid of her uninvited guest Alex figured that Charles Xavier was the person.
Xavier waited till Alex left the room and was well down the hallway before speaking. "This is a worry."
"Understatement of the century,"
"Logan," Jean admonished.
"We need to find this mutant," Ororo said.
"And stop him," Scott added.
Charles tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. "Why Alexandra?"
"Cause she was close?"
"No," Xavier replied. "If you wanted to make your threats known it would make more sense to broadcast them to every receiving telepath you could reach. So why only to her?"
"Maybe its not just Alex," Jean said. "Maybe there are others who have received these dreams. Ones that we just haven't heard from yet."
"Then why haven't you or the Professor received anything?" Scott asked. "You're both powerful and obviously in this guy's range."
"What if the message was only meant for Alex?" Ororo asked.
Charles Xavier slapped a palm down on his armrest. "Of course. The connection is a personal one, whoever this Death is he reached out to the one person he could guarantee a contact."
"Alex knows this person?"
"Of course not," Jean explained. "I always reach out to those I'm closest too. You already have a familiarity with their minds so the connection is easier."
"Should we tell Alex?" Ororo said.
"No," Xavier replied. "It will only upset her, for now we'll keep this bit of information to ourselves."
The Professor sat up straighter in his chair, any sense of uncertainty and
weariness had vanished. "
"Sure thing. I'll just add her to my list of strays."
Xavier just nodded. "Scott I want you to contact Paul Briggs and offer him any help he needs to find his friend. Also while you are there discreetly ask him about Alex, he seems to be the one who has known her longest."
"What would you like us to do, Professor?" Ororo asked, indicating herself and Jean.
"Nothing for now. Both of you just keep on accessing the new students, especially young Andrew."
"Should we be expecting some kind of an attack anytime soon?" Scott asked.
"I shouldn't think so, but it would be prudent to be alert, just to be on the safe side." The Professor replied.
"What are you gonna do during all this?" Logan said.
"I'll be searching for Death using Cerebro. If we can pinpoint his exact location it might go a long way to heading this all off before it becomes a full blown disaster."
* * *
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Robert Dunn sat behind his desk carefully going over a large pile of papers. Yesterday's test had been a resounding success but with such came added responsibilities. The Elders had unanimously voted to step up the countdown towards the annihilation of all mutants.
In front of Robert were now orders for an increase in medical equipment for the vaccines, equipment that had to be acquired with the utmost of care. The PHL was a known anti-mutant group and the blind fools in the Government had ensured that groups like his needed to step carefully. Any overt display of aggression was instantly quashed. Any time they tried to increase their resources they were raided and arrested. Orders for large amounts of guns, medical supplies – hell even paperclips – were scrutinised and questioned. If they wanted to proceed Robert needed to farm out such requests to fellow organisations and sympathetic groups, both here and overseas. Enlist their help in the ongoing struggle.
A Bunsen burner here, a hypodermic needle there, all orders would be processed and dispatched. Luckily for them some of the Elders held high positions on a variety of boards, two of which were multi-national chemical companies, so money was never going to be an issue.
Already requests for the miracle vaccine were drifting in as the Elders returned to their various cells around the country and told the faithful of the good news. The tunnel might still be long but now Dunn could see a glimmer of light at the end.
Time, now, was their only enemy. Robert worried that the time frame the Elders had decreed might not be reached. Too many pieces needed to be collected, too many officials bribed to look the other way as components and supplies trickled their way into Lewis's laboratories. This was too important for him to screw up now.
Looking up Robert caught sight of someone walking past. "Nigel," he barked out.
Nigel walked back to stand in the doorway. "Yes, Mr. Dunn?"
"Did you dispose of the body as I ordered?"
"Yes, sir. We dumped it in the woods. Nobody’s gonna find it for a while."
"Good. We may need more subjects as Lewis refines the process. I'm sure you'll be able to accommodate him in any requests he might give you."
Nigel swallowed heavily. "Uh, yeah sure. He needs a mutie; I'll get it for him. Is that all?"
Dunn nodded and let the man go. He was amused at Nigel's reactions from yesterday. Who could have known the man would turn out to be so squeamish? Still it didn't sit well on a highly trained professional, like Nigel claimed to be. No, he'd need to keep an eye out for that one, make sure Nigel didn't fail him again. It wouldn't be the first time Robert Dunn was forced to kill a fellow soldier who couldn't, or wouldn't, cut the grade.
Mystique walked down the stairs and turned into her room, one of the prizes for being a 'Lieutenant' in this army was your own personal space. No need to bunk down with the rest of the riff-raff. Locking the door behind her she allowed herself a brief moment to morph into her true form. Holding her arms above her head she stood on tiptoe for a second, stretching all her muscles and luxuriating in the feel of the warm air against her bare skin.
Changing back into the scruffy appearance of 'Nigel' she sat on the bed and tried to think. Things were coming to a head and not in a way that she particularly liked. It seemed more and more likely that the vaccine these nutcases had developed was the real thing. A broad range antidote that would wipe out all mutants including and in Mystique's personal opinion especially, her.
The time had come to see what the X-Men knew of all this. A situation she did not relish. Just the mere thought of having to go running to that bunch of do-gooders, metaphorical cap in hand, made her skin crawl. But there was no one else she could turn to. Magneto was incarcerated behind plastic bars and the security guards there had been alerted to her tricks.
The only ones she could turn to were Xavier and his black suited Boy Scout troop. They, and only they, had the ability to stop Dunn and the PHL.
And God help them all if the X-Men failed.
è CHAPTER SIX