Standard disclaimers, of course, apply. As this story progresses, it
may diverge slightly from strict X-continuity. I am patently ignoring
the supposed return of Black Air and the death of Jardine.
There may be adult themes in this section.
Just Lucky, I Guess 26/?
Domino sat completely still. "Tell me exactly what you know,
Wisdom." Recognizing the dangerous undercurrent in her tone, Pete
sighed. 'This ain't gonna be easy.' In a quiet voice he answered "I
know that Tolliver, or Tyler, or whatever 'e wants to call 'imself,
kept you captive fer over a year. I know that shape shiftin' bitch,
Wilson's old girlfriend, took yer place with Nate and X-Force."
At his pause, she muttered darkly "Go on."
He poured another glass of scotch, stalling "Damn mutant
metabolism- gotta drink three times as much to get half as drunk-
'course you know that." She only narrowed her eyes impatiently and
took another long swallow in reply.
Looking across the table at her, he sighed and continued in a
softer tone "I know Tolliver took you around with 'im like a bloody
trophy wherever and whenever 'e went durin' that time. I ain't never
asked, but knowin' you I figger you've got a pretty good idea of 'ow
to get in and out of 'is strongholds- even with an inhibitor collar
and in restraints, you're too much of a professional not t' notice
shit like that. I'm also pretty damn sure 'e keyed your mutagenic
signature into 'is security system so even when you was all trussed up
you could still come and go with 'im and all 'is little cronies, and
with your luck that signature's still in the system. And that," he
took another deep breath "is one of the reasons why I need you to 'elp
me get into one of 'em. Nothin' else is workin'."
"And," he grinned at her, a genuine, teasing smile this time "If
it's a prison or a dungeon on this planet, you've probably been in it
and you can probably get into and out of it. Probably done made
friends with th' guards, too."
She downed the remainder of her glass and poured another, sparing
him a quick smile for his effort to leaven the moment. 'I guess that
'We've tried' means that he's still connected to Jardine and his
bunch, officially or not. Either way, that's good- those resources
might come in useful.'
"Fair enough so far." she nodded, though her eyes remained
guarded. Noticing Pete's discomfort, she narrowed her eyes. 'Runt's
not saying everything.' Alarms sounded in her mind, and when she spoke
again her voice was cold and brittle. "So why do you...or Jardine,"
she had the pleasure of seeing him tilt his head in acknowledgment
"want to break into one of Tyle..Tolliver's strongholds for, anyway?
And what are you doing working for Jardine- I thought you were full
time Excalibur now."
He crossed his legs under the table and grinned at her. "I'm now
a *consultant*- Jardine's got me set up right. I just help 'im out
whenever he's got somethin' suited for me, and I fit it into
Excalibur's schedule. Trust me, we've got enough bloody free time over
there, an' th' money comes in good. Anyway, 'ave you heard about 'ow
we shut Black Air down, right?"
She nodded and noted clinically "Nice little piece of work. That
bunch of assholes needed cleaning out a long time ago."
He managed a grim smile. "Thanks. It'd been nicer if we could've
stopped the bastards before they ruined part of London, but... Better
part than all. Anyways, when the smoke cleared and the inquiries
began, I started 'earin' rumors about how some of th' top Black Air
geneticists, th' ones that did th' really advanced stuff, were
missin'."
"Well, it turns out that they weren't missin' after all. Jardine
told me last week that a surveillance satellite caught a clear shot of
some of 'em unloadin' some *extremely* high tech equipment near the
ruins of an abandoned castle on the coast of Spain. Well, that got
Jardine's people curious, and so they ran a couple of very interestin'
tests. Turns out the entire area's using some sort of huge image
inducer along with that security system I was tellin' ya about- I'm
talkin' a seriously advanced system. This is Cable's bodyslide
technology level stuff- it has to be Tolliver. Nobody else on earth
has access to that kind of technology- it ain't even Shi'ar."
She took a deep breath, her patience wearing extremely thin. "I
know exactly where you're talking about- it *is* Tolliver's, and trust
me, I know just how damn advanced it is." Dropping the faux British
accent, she enunciated clearly, afraid she already knew the answer
"Now tell me, Pete... *what the hell does all this have to do with
me?*"
He winced "Dom, I know some of what 'appened to you in there.
When one of Jardine's agents caught him with a mutant-rights terrorist
group, that little bastard Pico spilled his cybernetic guts about
'Petey the Dog', 'e called you."
She swore under her breath "Damn Deadpool." Looking him squarely
in the eyes, she asked him "Then why the hell do you need me for this
if you've got his guts spilled?"
"Because the obnoxious toerag wouldn't tell 'em a damn thing
about Tolliver. They tried everything- and I mean everything- but 'e
was just too afraid of Tolliver to say anything that would help us
with him."
Domino kept her expression emotionless. She'd been held captive
by more degenerate assholes than Nathan's dead 'son'- damn if she'd
let anything Pete had to say about him upset her. 'Keep tellin'
yourself that, Dom,' she grimaced.
Pete took a deep breath and continued "And that's why you've
gotta come with me. Pico did tell us that Tolliver's pet doctors did
some fairly extensive tests with yer DNA, but I don't have any idea
whether he was tellin' th' truth or not. I also know that 'e did some
other kinda experiments with yer tissue, and I know..." He took a deep
breath "Hell, I don't know what else, Dom, but knowin' that sadistic
bastard there just ain't no tellin'. And now that the Black Air
scientists are workin' there... If those geneticists are still doin'
the kinds of work that they were doin' for Black Air-" She held up a
hand and he paused in mid-sentence.
Still psi-linked with Domino, Cable was desperately trying to
listen to Pete's message, maintain the link with Betsy, and sooth the
turmoil Pete's words caused in Domino's battered mindscape when he saw
a huge purple-black door suddenly appear in her mind. Domino's
exhausted psi-voice sounded 'Go away, please, Nathan. I need to do
this by myself. I'll tell you everything later.'
He started to protest, but felt a gentle push in his mind.
Betsy. The British telepath, still linked to him, mentally prodded him
'Come, Nathan. She's recovered enough to handle this now. Give her
some privacy.' Grudgingly, he stepped through the door, but not
without reaching out to her one last time.
Eyes closed, she exhaled in relief. Now she could stop worrying
about the impact Pete's words would have on Nathan, anyway, and
concentrate completely on what Pete was saying. She sighed shakily.
Nathan was trying so damn hard to protect her from what his 'son' had
done, but as she'd learned a long time ago there was nothing any of
them could do but live with the nightmares, not just those born of
Tyler, break down every once in a while and pick up and go on. As
soon as Nathan broke their contact she abruptly felt an aching
emptiness where he had been, but also a strange relief. Now she only
had to worry about hurting herself- and she really didn't care what
happened to herself.
She inhaled sharply, trying to shake off those dark thoughts.
'That's ridiculous, Domino. You wouldn't have survived this long if
you didn't care what happens to you. Get real.' She wasn't sure, but
she thought she felt a crisp violet sentiment of approval that wasn't
her own.
Turning her attention back to Pete, she shook her head.
"Sorry... I was talking to Nate. I made him break the link."
Pete nodded. "I thought y' would. I was gonna ask y' to in a
minute, anyway. Now as I was sayin'..."
She interrupted "Yeah, yeah, sadistic bastards, DNA and tissue
tests, et cetera, et cetera. Occupational hazard." She did *not* want
to get into this with anyone, not even a friend as close as Pete. Last
week's breakdown was still too raw.
He took another gulp of his drink. "Dom, they were doin' more
than just tests at Black Air. Last I heard, those assholes holed up in
Tolliver's castle were doin' shit like experimentin' on cloned embryos
- and actually clonin' people- not sheep, not cows....people.
Especially mutant people. I'm tellin' ya this because you need check
this out for yourself."
She looked away for a moment, uncharacteristically silent and
vulnerable. Pete felt his throat tighten and he awkwardly placed a
tentative hand near her own.
Looking down at his hand, an elegant raven eyebrow arched.
Domino's voice was laden with sarcasm. "Yeah, well...I guess there's
worse things than being cloned- I mean, cloning gave us Strife and
Madelyne Pryor, after all- and I guess Nathan, too."
Pete growled gently "That's my bloody point, you stupid git."
Ignoring his barb, Domino just shook her head and removed her
hand from his. She continued in a conversational tone. "What else did
that sawed-off little messenger boy say?"
Pete swallowed and edited Pico's comments. He'd had to be
forcibly restrained from shooting ten hotknives down his cybernetic
throat himself when he'd heard what the mocking little bastard had
said- Dom had other things to worry about right now. "Just that his
employer was back."
Domino's artificially green eyes widened. "His employer?" she
whispered. 'Pierce or Tolliver? The lesser of two evils, please...'
she sent a silent prayer to heaven.
Pete took a deep breath and nodded. "Tolliver apparantly had
standing instructions that if 'e was to die before Cable did, he was
to be cloned and given a full memory implant so's 'e could finish th'
job. They're not just usin' his set-up- Tolliver 2 is th' one that's
hired th' Black Air geneticists."
Domino felt bile rise up in her throat. Pete's earlier words had
shaken her,no doubt, and she knew that they'd have to act on them, but
the simple knowledge that Logan had killed Tyler and that he was dead
and gone had made everything that had happened to her bearable. Now,
closing her eyes she could see his mocking face, feel his fetid breath
as he lay on her. She felt her stomach heave. Occupational hazard.
Right. And knowing that he was Cable's son made it even worse.
She stood up. "Give me just a minute, Pete," she rasped. "I'll
be right back."
She slipped out of the booth and walked slowly to the bar and
sat down alone, by herself, to think.
To be cont'd
===
-DuAnn
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives,
give I unto you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid.
-John 14:27
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