Part 10- ‘Collateral Damage…’
His heavy boots crunched over the deep snow, the powder embedding deep within the treads of the soles. He walked slowly, purposefully, surveying the scene laid out before him; the burning SUV had acted as a beacon for every civil authority this side of the Canadian border.
General Arrington, bent low close to the soil, his sharp eyes scanning the ground before him, the body of one of his soldiers lay under a tarp sheet, it fluttered slightly, the edges caught in the breeze, and his eyes were drawn to the bloodied head. The hair was matted with red and stuck to the now discoloured snow.
He stood slowly as the jeeps of the local law started and drove away, and watched as his second in command hurried over. His long coat was pulled tightly closed, none of them wore their military colours or uniform, this was strictly a black-op; everything was to remain under the radar.
But some explanation had now become necessary as the officers were the first to arrive on the scene. He had entrusted Lieutenant Bishop with the task of dispatching the law with all the answers the boys in the badges could need, the lieutenant had done a good job, simply stating that the whole incident with the burning trucks and dead soldier was a military exercise gone wrong.
It was a military affair and did not come under the jurisdiction of any police authority, and the military would appreciate it if the appropriate measures were taken to ensure that no further interference arrived, the matter would be cleared up, the mess removed. Nobody needed to know a thing, and as a last word Bishop had stressed his point of just what would occur should a breach in confidence ever take place and the story somehow ended up on the front page of the press.
His warning to the law officers had been issued with a smile, but the cold menacing intent behind them was more than clear.
Lieutenant Bishop sidled up to his superior; his shoulders hunched tight, a vain attempt at keeping out the cold, damn Canadian weather, no wonder Joe had wanted out of here so bad. He followed the General’s gaze towards the body lying under the covered sheet.
‘She made one helluva mess, our gal’s growin’ up fast.’ General Arrington muttered under his breath.
Bishop looked up at him, the general’s military record spoke for itself, but he’d never get over just how intent and cold this man could be, how callously he regarded one of his own unit and how hell bent he was on getting his hands on Marie.
It was an unnerving passion, a madness of some sort; he’d risked everything to take her, three fallen soldiers, the entire programme jeopardised, but still he pursued her like an obsession, a man possessed.
And in the same breath Bishop could almost understand it, Marie D’Ancanto was something that could prove a valuable asset, a secret weapon the military could not do without, her mutation was incomparable, the potential unforeseen.
‘The cycle was interrupted half-way sir, we’ve no idea how dangerous that could be, she woke up before the usual three days into the treatment and unless the programme is completed we may lose her altogether…’
Bishop spoke low and clear, but it seemed the general wasn’t even listening. He walked around the body fascinated; crouching low to the ground again he lifted the tarp and stared into the soulless eyes of the dead man.
He smiled, he actually smiled, Bishop looked away, he’d seen bodies before, and as far as he was concerned they were nothing to smile about.
‘She reversed their trap,’ he whispered, ‘they probably chased her down from the top of that embankment there…’ Arrington got up and walked up the hill, stopping and making his way back down.
‘Its pitch black,’ he seemed to be recounting the events of last night, running them through his mind like it was a movie, ‘what visibility there is the storm has shot to shit, she’s running, she knows there’s gotta be more than one, maybe she catches a glimpse of the other one in the trees, a flash in the corner of her eye, she knows they’re gonna try and cut her off.’
He walked back to the body, walked around the tree and pressed himself against it, ‘Instinctively she knows what she’s gotta do, stop running turn and fight, but fight smart, hit back with the mind, the thinking of a soldier, here, she knows the guy behind her, this is his blind spot, all she has to do is wait.’
Arrington tapped the side op his head, ‘She doesn’t stop to think about it, doesn’t question where it’s coming from, only knows its there, and she takes this guy down.’ He pointed to the tarp, ‘a seasoned soldier, she takes him down Bishop, 19 year old kid, takes down a guy, a guy that’s armed and trained.’
He laughed outright, ‘we know the treatments working, the conditioning…’ he tightened his fists and punched the side of his leg, ‘its working better than we could have hoped.’
Bishop tried and failed to appear as enthusiastic, ‘But now we can’t find her, and there’s the small problem of Logan, he must know by now, what’re we gonna do about him?’
The general was unfazed even by that, ‘Well lieutenant that’s what comes from a General’s sort of thinking, you really believe I hadn’t assessed the risk Logan posed? I studied your files inside out Bishop, I know just about everything there is to know about the man. I even contacted some of the original participants in that programme, those that are still alive. I knew about Logan, that’s why I gave the go ahead.’
Bishop looked up at him puzzled, ‘Three soldiers sir, a damn good operative in Joe, all lost, avoidable losses sir, you gave the go-ahead even when you knew the risk?’
Arrington smiled, ‘Like I said Bishop, a General’s sort of thinking, always three steps ahead, I knew Logan would get to her in time, he’s so predictable, he’ll play the hero in the not-so-shiny armour, and he’ll take her somewhere he thinks he can look after her, the one place he trusts.’
‘Back to the Academy…?’ Bishop suddenly spoke up in realisation, three steps ahead, had that been his plan all along, to take on the entire mutant school? He didn’t doubt Arrington would raze the place to the ground to get Marie back, and he’d do a damn better job than Stryker had.
A military mind, the goal, the objective would be reached, and Logan was doing them all a favour by heading back there, Arrington would relish the idea of killing two birds with one stone, the Academy and Marie, he’d take them both, to hell with the consequences, anything that happened to get in the way was collateral damage.
Collateral damage, if that was three dead soldiers or a school full of mutant kids, it would all prove worth it, in the end when they got hold of Marie, it would all be worth it.
‘We don’t know if she’s going to make it sir, most of our experiments, our tests have been carried out under controlled conditions, with Marie being unconscious. We have no idea how the others will affect her now that she’s awake, if she rejects and fights them, they could drive her mad, worse they could kill her.’
‘And why would she reject them Bishop? They just saved her life, and even if she does, she’s stronger than you give her credit for, she’ll fight them, but she’ll survive, and we can wait.’
Bishop met Arrington’s gaze reluctantly, the General smiled once more, ‘We can wait until it’s necessary to start the cycle again, and by that time she’ll be back at the Academy, in a months time she’ll know what she has to do. There’ll be no question; she’ll have to come back to us.’
‘And what about Logan…?’ Bishop couldn’t help but wonder just how risky Arrington’s plans were, there were so many variables and so many things that could go wrong, if she wasn’t as strong as the General believed, if she ended up getting herself killed, all this would have been a waste.
Months of experiments, of tests and various drugs all cultured for her particular mutation, the money spent, a black-op buried deep under layers of secrecy would be wasted, years of planning, months of implementing and all gone.
‘Logan won’t have a choice in the matter, he’s gonna find that out soon enough, she isn’t the girl he remembers, and pretty soon there isn’t gonna be anything of that girl left. If this goes the way I know it will, he’s gonna let us take her, otherwise she dies, and he gets to watch her die.’
Logan had watched her wake up and slip back into unconsciousness again at least half a dozen times, she seemed to have shifted into autopilot.
There was that time they’d stopped for gas, she had gotten up, climbed out of the truck and stood just watching the people that drifted in and out of the small diner to the side of the gas station.
She’d had one hand on the butt of her gun instantly, her hand had hovered on the handle of the Glock and he had watched as she studied each face, as she assessed each threat, her eyes narrowed her hand never straying too far from her weapon.
But it was all instinctive, they were in the last day of what would be her three day blackouts, and she hadn’t seemed to wake up at all, just slipped into this state of semi-consciousness, aware of every threat that could be posed, but unfamiliar to everything else.
It tore at him, the way she stood there, Marie in appearance but nothing else, she was not there, not really. Something had gone wrong, something was missing, incomplete, and he couldn’t shake the idea that it had something to do with the vials he’d seen Joe pouring into her.
Logan had tended to her cuts, managed to put together a make shift sling for her arm, she’d let him do all that, but she hadn’t said a word, he’d tried talking to her, when her eyes had drifted open, and she’d stare at the roof of the truck. He didn’t stop driving, they had a lot of road to cover, he talked over his shoulder to her, trying to get a response, but there was nothing.
Now she was sat next to him, she had climbed into the front seat of the truck, leaning back in the seat she pressed her head against the door window and closed her eyes. Her breath became shallow, and he had to strain, listen hard for the reassuring beat of her heart, he’d gotten in the habit of doing that, as long as he could hear her heart beating he could breathe.
Her shirt rode higher as she leaned to one side and his eyes drifted to the skin of her bare back, he snapped his eyes back to the road, his blood rising in his veins, he looked again and caught sight of her gun, tucked away neatly in the top of her pants, the handle was barely visible.
He thought back to the way she had looked holding that gun, in control, strong…dangerous. He’d never known her to handle a weapon, they’d covered guns in training, but only how to dodge bullets, not how to use one.
But she’d known, known instinctively, hollow and without remorse, that steel, cold hard look in her eyes, there’d been nothing else, just that knowledge that Marie was not really there.
He made a decision, reaching across, keeping one hand on the wheel of the truck, softly gently as not to wake her, he reached for the handle of the gun, his hand brushed against the milky whiteness of his skin. But she didn’t move, his fingers almost grasped the weapon.
And just as quickly her eyes snapped open, the gun was in her hand and she jutted the weapon under his chin, the safety off, the weapon cocked, she brought her face close to his, keeping his eyes locked on her own.
She smiled, a cold hard smile, ‘Ah hope you’re planning on makin’ this worth my while, especially if you’re gonna make a habit of sticking your hands down my pants.’
He looked intently at her, ‘Marie you awake…?’
He held a breath, so many times she’d opened her eyes, seemingly awake but not really, her eyes opened but she was still held back in the dark, a semi-conscious state.
She smiled wider, pushing the gun further under his chin, ‘What makes ya think you’re talking’ to Marie…?’
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Author's Chapter Notes:
And just as quickly her eyes snapped open, the gun was in her hand and she jutted the weapon under his chin, the safety off, the weapon cocked, she brought her face close to his, keeping his eyes locked on her own.
She smiled, a cold hard smile, ‘Ah hope you’re planning on makin’ this worth my while, especially if you’re gonna make a habit of sticking your hands down my pants.’
A/N: A gun totin' kick-ass Marie, sometimes I wonder if that's such a good thing...
She smiled, a cold hard smile, ‘Ah hope you’re planning on makin’ this worth my while, especially if you’re gonna make a habit of sticking your hands down my pants.’
A/N: A gun totin' kick-ass Marie, sometimes I wonder if that's such a good thing...