Subject: [OTL]: HellsX 39 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 04:36:18 -0700 (PDT) From: D Benway HellsX [39:45] Dead By Dawn Produced by Benway. See notes for disclaimers. _______________________________________________________________________________ The flight to Arizona took over five hours. Doug flew in the freezer unit, so that the pilots could fly without masks. They landed in the desert, in the shadow of a mesa, an hour before sunrise. The chopper dusted off almost immediately. "There's a car on the other side," said Summers, over their headsets. "It's a government standard white bubble-car. There's two agents inside, waiting to rendezvous with Castle in the morning. What they've got for him is in the trunk. Go get it and bring it back here." "Why do you need me?" said Doug. "It's an artifact," said Summers. "It's got Hyperborean hieroglyphics, if it's what we think it is. We need you to verify that it's the real thing." "Can't you do that after we bring it back?" said Doug. "It's large, it's heavy, and it's made of solid endsilver," said Summers. "So why didn't you send Rasputin?" said Doug. "We're exhausted," said Summers. "We've had five hours sleep in three days. Just verify it, and we'll send in the helicopter to get it. Cyke out." "Shit," said Doug. Kitty grunted. "This stinks," said Doug. "No the only thing," said Kitty. "Metaphorically or otherwise?" said Doug. "Shut up," said Kitty. They walked on in silence, maintaining at least a fifty foot distance at all times. "Shit," said Doug, as the car came into view. It wasn't just the other side of the mesa. It was barely visible across the rocky plains. "Tonya to Cyke," Kitty said. "Cyke here," said Summers. "Ten miles more," said Kitty. "Walk it," said Summers. "Sun's up in forty-five minutes," said Doug. "She'll carry you," said Summers. "Tonya, what's your ETA if you run the whole way?" "Ten minutes," said Kitty. "Do it," said Summers. "Wait!" said Doug as she scooped him off the ground and accelerated up to sixty miles per hour. Doug accompanied the journey with a running commentary of swearing in one hundred and sixty three languages at every bump and misstep that Kitty made. She halted fifty feet from the car. The couple inside were so busy arguing that they had not noticed her one-minute miles, or the consequent dust trail. "If you'll just look at this with an open mind," said the man. "I will look at it with an open mind," said the woman. "Not with an empty one." "Now that's just the sort of attitude-" said the man. "Hey!" "What?" said the woman. "There's two kids out there, walking towards the car," said the man. "You're hallucinating," she said, looking over her shoulder. Doug grinned and waved. Kitty tried to keep herself from drooling. "Hi!" said Doug. A spotlight shone into their faces. "I'm not sure what's weirder," said the woman, "That they're here, or that their parents let them dress that way." "You kids are in a restricted area," said the man. "That's OK, " said Doug. "All we want to do is look in your trunk." "How did you get out here?" said the woman. "Do your parents know where you are?" "Nope," said Doug. "Just pop the trunk." "Now just hold on a minute, here," said the man. "We're FBI agents on official business and-" "Do it," said Kitty. "That's enough of this nonsense," said the woman. "You two are under-" Kitty bared her fangs. The woman fainted dead away. "Oh WOW!" said the man. "You're aliens! I knew it! Aliens! You're real! I always wanted to meet you guys!" "Got any cuffs?" said Doug. "Sure," said the man. "In the glove compartment. Can you show me your spaceship?" "Only if you both cuff yourselves to the steering wheel," said Doug. "OK!" said the man. "Tonya to Cyke," whispered Kitty into the transceiver. "Got the car." "Forty minutes to sunrise," said Summers. She could see a blue line along the horizon. Doug was staring at it, too. "All tied up?" said Doug "Sure am," said the man. "Fox, why are we cuffed to the steering wheel?" said the woman, groggily. "They're going to show us their spaceship," said Fox. "Finally, after all these years, you'll see I was right." "Those kids," said the woman. "Some kind of hallucinogenic gas-" "I knew you were going to say that," said Fox. "Sorry to interrupt," said Doug. "Could you please pop the trunk?" "No can do," said Fox. "Trunk popper's busted." "For fuck's sake," said Kitty. "I'll-" Blinding whiteness flash filled her world. Something burning knocked her to the ground. She crawled out from under it, in time to hear the last dying shrieks of the car's occupants. A much larger second explosion knocked her flat. She tried to stand up, but fell over. She noticed that she wasn't wearing any clothes, but that her skin pitted with something that burned. She tried to stand up, but could not rise. Deep within, she could feel something building, ready to explode. "Urgh," she managed, rolling onto her stomach. She saw Doug, illuminated by the flames, standing on a ridge 25 feet away. He looked dazed, and one of his arms was badly charred. "Doesn't hurt," he said. "Doesn't hurt at all. Smells so good, I want to eat it." He burst into tears. Kitty coughed up a tooth, and something that tasted remarkably like blood. It pooled on the ground, glowing quicksilver. "Bird 2 to Cyke," said someone over the headset. "Perimeter violation." "Scramble," said Summers. "Wrong..." said Kitty. She glanced at her mike. It was melted and bent out of shape, dissolving in quicksilver. "Radio silence," said Summers, and the headset went dead. Kitty rolled over onto her back. Doug had fallen to his knees, and was staring back towards the drop zone as she heard the helicopters start up. She looked away, and into the desert. It seemed aflame with tiny particles of glowing blue light. "Trap," she muttered. The blue was quite pretty. Someone in a clinic had told her that she would see a blue light just before she died. "They're not coming," said Doug. "Why aren't they coming?" She knew the answer. As she started closing her eyes, she saw something move, not more than twenty feet away. It was large. It was alive. It was food. She lunged. As she started blacking out, she tore into its cold, scaly skin and ripped open the gila monster's jugular vein, sucking every last drop of cold, life-giving blood from its twitching body. The reaction was nearly immediate. The poison came out, not as a thick liquid but as white flame brighter than the fire in the burning car. She heaved up some glowing red magma, then managed to roll over again. "Endsilver," said Doug. "They put endsilver in the bomb." "Yeah," said Kitty. "It was a trap," said Doug. "Yeah," said Kitty. "What's up with the chopper?" said Doug, glancing at the horizon. "They must have seen the blast." "Took off," said Kitty. "Perimeter violation." Doug stared at her, wide-eyed. "Mike's melted," she said. "Can't-" "CUNTS!" screamed Doug. "Motherfuckers! Bastard shitheads! Assholes!" Kitty tried to get up, and made it halfway. "Sunrise," she said. "Those fucking pricks!" screamed Doug. "After all I did for them!" He started to weep again. "Why?" said Kitty. "They're fucking assholes, that's why," sobbed Doug. "Why did you pick me?" said Kitty. "They've left us to die," said Doug. "They've left you to die," said Kitty. "Maybe." "The sun's coming up in twenty fucking minutes!" screamed Doug. "Not my problem," said Kitty. "Got the poison out." "That's not going to do me any fucking good, is it?" said Doug. "Maybe I can save you, if they don't come back," said Kitty. "Huh?" said Doug. "Tell me why you did this to me and maybe I'll save you," said Kitty. "How are you fucking going to do that?" said Doug. "You'll see," said Kitty. "If you tell me." "Can't," said Doug. "Want to die?" said Kitty. The blue in the sky was almost that of the endsilver. "We needed another vampire on the team," said Doug. "We needed someone we could easily manipulate. We had a psychological profile. I convinced them that you fit." "I fit," said Kitty. "Yes, you fucking well did," said Doug. "I saw you on TV, starving yourself to death, year by year. I knew who you were from before, and I thought you still were her, somewhere inside. Someone smart, someone strong. Instead, you're just what they wanted you to be, empty-headed and usable." "You wanted to save me," said Kitty. "Yeah," said Doug. "What makes you think I wanted to be saved?" said Kitty. "I-" said Doug. "I've never been good enough," said Kitty. "But-" said Doug. "You only did it because you wanted to use me," said Kitty. "You're right I wanted to use you," said Doug. "I wanted to use you to save yourself." "Bull," said Kitty. "I don't fucking care what you think," said Doug. "I wanted to use you to fuck up Xavier's little freakshow, and I picked you because I knew how smart you used to be, and I knew that if there was anyone worth saving in there, you'd find a way out." "You're still part of it," said Kitty. "You think I'm a volunteer?" said Doug. "They stole me, like I stole you. They made me into something, and I made myself into something better. I had a plan, a very elaborate plan that would bring the walls down, bring it all down, open up this country to the world for everyone, and now, maybe, after all those years of planning, it's all going to come apart." "I don't care," said Kitty. "Why not?" said Doug. "Why don't you want to live? We're not dead now, just changed. We could live forever! We could make this world so much better than it is now. You could make yourself so much better than you are now. Why can't you see that it's worth it?" "Don't care," said Kitty. "I do," said Doug. "I want to live." "Give me a reason," said Kitty. "You can still get out," said Doug. "There's still a way to get you out. We can get you to Europe, just like Cassandra promised." "Cassandra's dead," said Kitty. "Don't you think there's others like her?" said Doug. "There's thousands living there, under the protection of the Council. They can teach you how to shape change, teach you how to do anything." "Liar," said Kitty. "You let me die, you'll never know," said Doug. "Come on, make up your mind, we've only got another fifteen minutes, and it's only ten to that old farmhouse we passed. It's got a well behind it that I can hide in." "Can't carry you," said Kitty, staggering to her feet. "Can barely stand. You plan for that?" "You said you could save me," said Doug. "What the fuck are you going to do? Dig a hole in the rock? Put me in what's left of the car? Make Summers change his fucking mind and come back with the choppers?" "Watch," she said. She phased, and drifted over towards the burning car. She drifted along over the remains of her titanium composite jumpsuit, and unphased just long enough to pick it up off the endsilver-laden sand. She floated back up and over to the car, then dove into the passenger compartment. The man had been wearing a leather coat which had not burned as everything else had. She unphased on the hood, then tore the remains of the coat from the corpse. She floated back towards Doug, who was staring at the bright blue band across the horizon. "They said you could do something special," said Doug. "One last thing," she said, picking up a slightly melted roll of duct tape that had landed a few feet from where Doug had been standing. "I don't-" said Doug. "We need to keep you away from the light, correct?" said Kitty. "Oh," said Doug. "I see." Kitty began tearing at the remains of her jumpsuit. She cut the legs open, and Doug taped the fabric into one long sheet. "Not enough," he said. "Maybe," said Kitty, tearing off the arms. "Roll up in a ball." He did. She wrapped him up in the fabric, then lay the remains of the leather coat on top. There was barely enough. "Roll yourself up tighter," she said. "If I had to breathe, I'd be dead," said Doug. She taped one side of the leather coat onto the titanium fabric, then stood back and waited. "We've got less than five minutes," he said. "Come on, finish." "Did Summers set this up?" said Kitty. "He's fighting Xavier too, isn't he?" "Don't know," said Doug. "Did you sell him out, like you sold out Cassandra and the others?" said Kitty. "Don't know what you're talking about," said Doug. "You were never kidnapped," said Kitty. "You went there on your own, and then did some shit to convince Frost you were kidnapped, to stop Cassandra from getting me out. You made Bobby kill all those kids in the basement, to make Cassandra hate me." "How could you think I would do that?" said Doug. "Because you want to win," said Kitty. Doug stared back at her. "You'd do anything to win," said Kitty. Doug started to laugh. It chilled her to the bone. She knew the boy that she knew was as dead as she was. "So what if I did?" said Doug. "It still goes on. It can still go on without me. It will certainly go on without you. So you can still get out." "What?" said Kitty. "You can still get out," said Doug. "You'll see Angelica again, the Avenger called Firestar. You see her, you tell her 'Amistad' and then you both run. She'll know where to go." "When?" said Kitty. "When do I see her?" "You will," said Doug. "That's all I can tell you. If I tell you any more, the last of my plans will fall apart and it will have all been for nothing." "Good," said Kitty. "Want to watch the sun come up?" "Want to watch me die like your mother did?" said Doug. "No," whispered Kitty. "Then turn your head and pretend like you could do nothing to save me," said Doug. "There wasn't anything you could do to save your mother, and maybe some day you'll know that, but I'm the only person left from your past you can talk to about anything, and if you let me die you'll know for the rest of your life-" "Shut it," said Kitty. She forced him inside the shell, and taped it shut. It was a very tight fit. Too tight for the tape, which was starting to peel off as the first bit of red crept over the horizon. Kitty tried to tape over the gap, but the fabric was stretched too tight and the tape didn't stick to the composite properly. Kitty slapped on one last layer of tape, then grabbed bundle tightly to reduce the strain. She heard a bone or two snap inside, and Doug moaned in pain. "Don't move," she said. He didn't. She held him tight as the shadows appeared behind the cacti, and the last of the night's insects scurried for cover. It took no effort on her part, and she was beginning to wonder how long it was until sunset when Doug started to scream. "I can see!" he said. "It's leaking!" She held him tighter, scrabbling to keep his cocoon together. She couldn't see where the light was coming in, and couldn't feel where the tape was coming loose. "Hurts!" screamed Doug. "It hurts! Burning!" She held him tighter. She heard more bones snap. She held him tighter yet, as his screaming died away to a soft hissing. She held him tighter and tighter because there was less and less to hold, and then there was nothing but stiff titanium and charred leather in her hands. She held it tighter still. Near sunset, the choppers came for her. Summers wrapped her in a wholly un-necessary blanket and carried her into the aircraft. She barely stirred, all the way back to Manhattan. McCoy wanted the suit for analysis, but Summers let her keep it. "I'm sorry," he said, as he left her in her room. "Orders." "Not as sorry as you'll be," she whispered, in the dark. [Next: Richard Grayson]