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houndofhellskitchen · 8 months ago

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☤ › prison break .

warnings. mentions of abuse, anti-mutant slur/use of the term mutie, dehumanization, typical comic violence word count. 2.1k summary. this one is pretty heavy. i've wanted to dive into the project angelus side of her story for quite some time but have always been hesitant because of the content it involves. this takes place during a mission to break her sister out of the facility they were holding her in, in cyrosleep. i'll probably make a post about project angelus soon as a sort of general info dump.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

This facility wasn’t much different than the one she had spent so much of her adulthood in. The gray concrete walls threatened to throw her into a panic attack with each sounding footfall of the thick soles of her boots.

The further she got down the hallway, the slower her run became until eventually she was walking. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure no one was following her. The alarm still blared, the bright lights of the sensors flashing in the hallway. She could hear footsteps far away. Shouts and orders being barked. Soldiers running.

They had gotten her out. Katie was now safe with Frank, across the ocean, thousands of miles away from here. Remy should be in the computer room, taking care of the hard drives and files. Kurt and Kes were on standby for extraction. Now, all she had to do was her part, the thing she was the best at, the thing the soldiers she now hunted had trained her to be. A killer.

As she turned back around, she heard another set of footsteps. Her hand goes to her pistol on her hip, quickly checking the clip.

Empty.

Fuck.

The footsteps grow closer and faster. Whoever it is will be there in seconds. A bluff was going to have to do.

She raised her pistol, finger resting on the trigger as the owner of the footsteps rounded the corner of the hallway and the face she saw made her freeze on the spot.

That cruel smile that had haunted her dreams and at her worst haunted her days was now standing in front of her.

“Well, it seems like our dear Angelina has returned home.”

The name felt foreign. Angelina was someone who had died years ago, in a facility so eerily similar to this one. Yet, it drew out such an intense feeling of rage that it had her acting before she realized what she was doing.

Tossing her pistol to the side, she ran down that hallway, closing the distance between them. As he braced for her impact, she pivoted and jumped.

Her dominant foot colliding with the concrete wall, she pushed off and slammed her fist into his jaw.

Both of them fell into the opposite wall of the hallway, Morrigan righting herself quicker then him and not leaving any time for him to recover as she moved into her next attack.

She spun and drove her elbow back, colliding with his face, hearing the sharp cry of pain. Once more she spun, this time bringing her leg up and kicking his jaw with her heavy boot.

She steadied herself as he fell and tumbled backwards down the hallway. As he stood, she took off running towards him again, this time bringing up her knee as she reached him, driving it into his chest and sending both of them into the wall.

This left her vulnerable, which she became aware of the second she felt the sharp painful tug of her hair. His harsh gloved grip stayed strong with her red hair wrapped around his fist.

Tears pricked in the corners of her eyes as he rendered her immobile, her head tilted back as her blue eyes stared up into his cold and cruel ones.

His laugh surrounded her as the situation brings her plunging head first into a memory she had driven so far back in the recesses of her mind.

His glove hand gripped her long hair tight, knowing that this surrendered her to his total control. He walked at a quick place, the sound of his boots echoing in the hallway.

She still wore the long evening gown that she had donned for her mission, a campaign party for some world leader.

She nearly tripped over the hem of the gown as she tried to keep pace and ease the pain searing through her scalp. They reached the mission control room, the metal door slamming into the wall as he shoved it open.

Heads turned towards the sudden disturbance.

His hand suddenly left her head and his boot reached up, kicking the back of her knee, sending her down to her knees on the hard concrete floor.

Her scalp didn’t have that long of a reprieve before his hand harshly tugged her hair again, her hand going to his wrist to cling to in some effort to minimize the pain.

“Goddamn mutie scum,” he spat out at her.

His hand’s firm grip on her hair had her staring up at his towering figure. She couldn’t see it, but she could still hear as the snap was undone on his gun holster. Before she could register what was happening, he tugged her hair, her scalp burning, neck stretching. Her mouth opened as she cried out in pain, but it was soon cut off by the muzzle of the gun being shoved in her mouth.

Her eyes went wide and a silence fell over the room. No one dared to speak and no one would. No one would save a mutant like her if the handler decided to pull the trigger and cover the room with her brains. No one moved a muscle.

“The assassin had one fucking job. Seduce the target and take him out. Instead the assassin decided to be a goddamn prude.” He leaned down close to her ear, whispering. “Everyone here knows exactly what the assassin can do when properly motivated”

His cruel words paired with the burning of her scalp brought tears to her eyes, teardrops rolling down her cheeks, drool pooling in the corners of her stretched lips as she was still painfully aware of the heavy metal gun muzzle in her mouth, pressing down on her tongue.

The short silence that followed felt like ages to her until he suddenly granted her relief, pulling the gun from her mouth and letting go of her hair. She closed her eyes as the relief washed over her, but even that in these gray walls was short lived as his boot came up and collided with her chin, snapping her head back.

Tsk. Tsk.

The sound he made was as mocking as it could be while he happily used his new advantage over her to switch their positions. He shoved her back harshly into the concrete wall, his free hand going to his belt and the sound of metal sliding out of a sheath reached her ears. Soon she felt the cold blade kiss the skin of her overly exposed throat.

But this time, she wasn’t afraid of him. She wasn’t at his mercy, he was at hers.

“Little mutie, don’t you ever learn?”

The rage returned to her eyes as she pushed her neck forward, feeling the blade cut into her skin and a small line of blood trickle down.

“You weren’t there that day…when I killed everyone,” she said, a chilling smile spreading on her face as she noticed the hint of fear enter his eyes. “Your knife won’t save you now.”

She grabbed his wrist, her fingers finding the sliver of exposed flesh and the ghostly grey spreading over her eyes, giving them their signature dead look.

Then she started draining and draining, but with him she elevated the experience, forcing him to experience the horrors that she experienced at his hands.

His knife fell from his grip as panic seized him and his screams of pain and terror filled the hallway, bouncing off the concrete. His hand fell from her hair and his body began its collapse to the ground, the life draining out of his eyes as the last of the life force became hers. With a thud, his body fell to the concrete and Morrigan simply stepped over it, grabbing his gun before taking off down the hallway.

Her hand reached for the watch on her wrist, pressing the button on the side.

“Remy you copy?”

“I’m here petite rouge. Th’ bombs are set.”

“Okay. Tell Kes and Kurt I’ll be at the extraction point in fifteen.”

“Dat don’ give you much o’ a window.”

“I know, but its gonna have to work.”

“See you on th’ other side.”

Radio silence.

Remy was out of range now. Time to finish this up. He was right though, she was racing against the clock.

She broke into a run down the hallway, her right hand bringing up the pistol she had grabbed. The weight, the feel, all of it was so familiar. She had trained countless hours with these pistols, the practice making the weapon just an extension of herself.

Her finger found the ejection button, the clip sliding into her palm. An almost full clip. It would work, after all she wasn’t planning on doing much shooting.

She dropped her hand back to her side as she continued her run. In her mind, she played the blueprint of the facility over and over. The cyrosleep chambers were the very bottom floor, the facility had five of them including the surface entrance floor. Control and computers were on the fourth floor.

She noticed the giant grey three on the concrete wall as she continued running, reaching the inclined ramp that would lead her to the second floor. The bunkers and armory. Where all those soldiers would be headed, where she would be headed.

The further she went up the ramp, the clearer she could hear the footsteps and voices.

Here goes nothing.

She rounded the corner, seeing the soldiers donning the black gear with the white embroidered wings in place of where you would typically see name tags. Nameless fuel for the hungry machine this place was.

Her own tactical suit, bearing the same angel wing symbol made the frantic soldiers barely glance her way.

She gave a sharp whistle.

“Hey there boys,” she said with a grin.

The soldier nearest to her moved to tackle her. She spun quickly, grabbing his own arm, her other arm coming up to collide with his chest. With her feet planted, her and the soldier slid a bit before stopping. Her blue eyes turned the ghostly grey again. The kid in her grasp looked no more than twenty years old. He let out a blood curdling scream.

As he collapsed, these others grabbed their pistols.

She threw her hands out, focusing on the many life force pulses she could feel surrounding her. Her eyebrows pinched together and sweat started to bead on her forehead. She let out a frustrated scream as she poured all her energy in draining the soldiers surrounding her.

For the first time, she could see the energy, how it was similar to seeing heat waves pour off the highway in the desert. Her fingers curled inward, bending as if she was gripping onto a surface.

Screams filled the room, drowning out her own. One of the soldiers fired a shot, his shaky hands throwing off his aim, the bullet intended for her head instead going through her shoulder. She cried out in pain, but kept her stance firm.

With their life forces draining into her own, the bullet wound soon healed itself. One by one, the bodies began to sink to their knees, their hands clutching at their heads or their hearts. Some had blood pouring out their mouth and ears, all were in utter agony.

The air became thick and suffocating, she felt weightless in it.

As the final body dropped, the soldier’s eyes staring lifelessly up at the ceiling, so did she. Her body laid amongst the countless corpses, her head swirling.

The beeping of her watch brought her snapping back to reality.

Two minutes.

Then this place would blow. She didn’t want to stick around and find out how her healing factor held up against a fiery explosion.

She got to her feet, stumbling over the countless bodies that lay spread out from where she had fallen like trees falling in the forest in a perfect radius around an impact zone. She had to get out of here. She had to get to the extraction point.

One foot at a time. One foot at a time. One turn after another.

The giant grey number one had her exhaling a breath she had been holding in. She took off in a sprint, passing the dead bodies of guards they had taken out at the beginning of this mission.

One minute left.

She shoved her thumb into the clearance pad, feeling the needle prick the pad of her tumb and draw blood. The light flashed green and she was shoving her body through the space that was slowly widening as the door opened.

Once free, she broke into a run again, seeing the two familiar figures suddenly appear in her path. She didn’t stop running, barreling into them, their hands grasping onto her as the three of them disappeared, feeling a kiss of heat as the facility exploded a mere second after they disappeared.

#✎ ・ beth writes #☤ ・ drabble #morrigan chateau

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houndofhellskitchen · 10 months ago

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☤ › a life for a life .

warnings. pretty standard comic book stuff

word count. 2.3k words

summary. morrigan meets a certain red eyed mutant who she would save and who would in turn save her.

“ i don’t need a babysitter danny! ”

some of the bar patrons turned as the redhead loudly protested, a blonde biker following a step behind her, no doubt the one she was probably yelling at.

danny couldn’t help but smile at her little outburst. he just loved to mess with morrigan.

“ well it was either me or smitty, ” he replied, watching as she grabbed one of the pool cue’s off the table.

he came up behind her, planting his hands on the wooden edge of the table, effectively trapping her. her shoulders tensed.

“ and we both know how you feel about smitty ”

his breath was warm against her ear. she jabbed the pool cue back into his stomach before slipping away from him and to the other side of the pool table.

“ just shut up and break it. ”

“ oh, bossy already tonight. ”

he received a glare in response from her.

she watched as he lined up the cue, bending down over the table. in a fluid motion, the cue shot forward, striking the white pool ball, sending it flying into the others, sending them rolling around the table. one of the striped ones went in.

danny surveyed his options before picking one, taking aim and shooting. the loud crack of the wooden cue hitting the white pool ball filled the small space around them as the waitress walked over to them.

“ you guys want anything to drink? ”

“ bud light. ”

danny spoke as he stood up. the ball hadn’t gone into the pocket.

“ just a rum and coke for me lindsey ”

morrigan smiled at the waitress as she wrote down the two orders. once she was gone, she redirected her attention to the game at hand.

she took a moment to pick and line up her own pool cue. she got two in one round.

“ shit. ”

the sound of danny’s ego faltering sounds like music to the ears of the redhead. she circled the pool table and made her next shot. only one of the two went in. now danny’s turn.

lindsey walked back over with their drinks.

“ bud light and a rum and coke ”

morrigan smiled and gave a simple nod of thanks, taking a sip of her drink as she watched danny make his shot. he missed entirely this time.

she laughed, this time being the one to receive a glare.

“ something wrong pretty boy? i know you aren’t the best at this but a five year old could have made that shot. ”

danny rolled his eyes and took a swing of his beer.

“ we’ll see how cocky you are later tonight. ”

morrigan merely grinned and leaned down to take her next shot.

the chime of the bell on the door sounded. a man with brown hair, down to his shoulders walked in.

she watched him. something seemed off about him as she watched him walk up to the bar, boots loud on the hardwood floor.

danny noticed her stare, following it at they both watched the newcomer.

“ you know where i could find a danny? biker guy, dogs of hell jacket? ”

lindsey glanced over the stranger’s shoulder and to the pool table. she seemed nervous to morrigan.

“ he’s actually over at the pool tables. ”

she gestured in their direction as the stranger looked over his shoulder, spotting them. he thanked her, leaving a five dollar bill on the counter before turning and heading towards the pool tables.

as he got closer, morrigan quickly realized why lindsey looked so nervous. the stranger’s eyes were quite unique, black where the white would normally be with brilliant red irises. a mutant. just like her.

she stood back up as he reached their table.

“ who the hell are you? ”

morrigan rolled her eyes at danny’s quick defensive nature.

“ lil’ birdie says you th’ one t’ see ‘bout th’ mortician. ”

her curiosity piqued even more at the mention of her name amongst the criminals of hell’s kitchen.

“ what do you want with her? ”

“ i can tak for myself danny. ”

she finished her drink, shoving the empty glass into his hand. danny rolled his eyes but left them, heading to the bar. he glanced back at them as he perched himself on a barstool.

“ you th’ mortician? ”

“ one an’ only. seems unfair that you know about me but i don’t know your name. ”

“ name’s gambit mon ami. ”

morrigan glanced down as he stuck his hand out towards her.

“ nothin’ against you but i don’t shake hands. ”

“ no offense taken ”

she bent down, resuming the task she had been occupied with before the strange gambit had entered the bar and disturbed her night.

“ so what has you searching for the mortician? you don’t have one down in the bayou? ”

“ none dat coul’ help wit’ my affliction. dey’ve tried. ”

she took her shot, successfully sending one of the solid colored balls into the pocket.

“ if you can beat me, i’ll see if i can be of help. though i’ll warn you, i drive a high price. ”

“ money’s no problem a’ all mon ami. ”

gambit smiled and took the pool cue that danny had been using.

he watched as morrigan lined up another shot, just barely missing the pocket.

now it was his turn.

she stood back, watching as he stalked around the table, leveraging each shot before choosing one and taking it, sinking the ball into the pocket with ease.

“ good game mon ami. ”

“ i almost had you cajun. ”

she hung up the two pool cues, closing the case while gambit racked the pool balls.

“ dat mean you gonna try an’ help me? ”

she nodded, tilting her head to a booth in a quiet part of the bar.

he followed, sliding into the booth seat across from her. she sat down, resting her arms on the table.

“ so tell me your affliction. ”

the man across from her sighed and leaned back against the worn leather of the booth seat.

“ heard you go’ control over life an’ death non? well, let’s jus’ say, death go’ a pretty good hold on me. need help gettin’ ‘im out. ”

his little speech both intrigued and puzzled her.

“ what like some disease? ”

“ more pale horse and its rider. ”

she chuckled softly, fingers tapping on the wooden table top.

“ as i looked, there was a pale horse, and its rider was death. and hell followed along behind him. ”

she took the moment of silence that followed after her reciting of the passage to really ponder on what he had told her.

could he truly be talking about death the horseman?

it was possible, after all, she had been possessed by a celtic death goddess.

“ look, i can’t help you here. or even try to figure out if i can help. but if you swing by my apartment i am happy to try. ”

gambit perked up a bit at the hope of alleviation from his ailment.

“ thank you mon ami. how much dat gonna cost me? ”

“ we’ll figure that out later. ”

she held her hand out on the table. he gave her a puzzled look before figuring out what he wanted. he grabbed his phone from his pocket, handing it over.

she opened the notes page, typing in the address to her apartment. she handed it back and stood.

“ see you soon cajun. ”

her apartment was small, simple. it lacked personal touch, a shell of what it could be.

a small kitchen with a shabby looking coffee maker on the counter and two rickety barstools by the L end of the counter.

a couch and small coffee table sat in the living room area and down the hall were two doors, one to her bedroom and the other to the bathroom.

the knock on her front door brought the redhead out of her bedroom. dressed in a tank top and sweatpants, she crossed the space of the hallway through the living room to her apartment door.

taking a quick glance through the peephole, seeing the man from the bar on the other side, gambit.

she undid the chain and the deadbolt, pulling the sticky door open. the hinges creaked and she cringed.

she hated this place.

“ brought coffee. ”

he held the two cups up, offering one out to her. she took it with a small smile and stepped out of the way.

he slipped inside, looking around the place as she closed the door and redid the locks.

“ nice place. ”

her scoff makes him turn around. she took a sip of her coffee.

“ it’s a shithole. ”

he smiled at her comment and offered a sympathetic nod.

she gestured to the couch, watching as gambit walked around the coffee table and sat down. she followed, sitting on the coffee table, their knees knocking together.

“ so how dis gonna go? ”

morrigan held her hands out, palms up and hovering above his knees.

“ i’m gonna poke around a bit. my abilities allow me to see into a person’s past in regards to injuries and pain. i just have to touch you to make a connection. ”

she watched him, gauging his reaction.

he hesitated at first, watching her before slowly setting his hands into her own.

she gave him a gentle smile before closing her eyes. she took a few deep breaths before making her connection.

first she felt abandonment. he had felt a lot of it in his lifetime.

then came the pain. different levels, some minimal, some excruciating.

the worst were two moments. both moments having one common denominator, a man with shark-like teeth and red stone set in the center of his forehead.

the pain associated with him made her wince, her hands gripping his own tightening.

though she could not see it, gambit winced too.

she focused on the image of the man, of the pain associated with it, and prodded further. another image exploded forth. similar in nature but much, much more painful.

it caused her to almost fall forward into gambit sitting across from her but she stayed as steady as she could despite her hands beginning to tremble in his own. a painful experimentation, something that had turned gambit into something different.

and as if the memory gambit could sense her, he stared straight at her and flashed her an unsettling smile.

morrigan quickly opened her eyes, staring at their entwined hands. to her horror, the hands entwined with her own were now grey. like the gambit she had seen in the memory.

before she could react, his hand released hers and grabbed her throat. the cold fingers squeezed and she struggled for air. and just as quick as he had grabbed her, he threw her across the small living room.

she crashed into the brick fireplace mantle and she felt the sickening crack of her spine before she hit the floor, air pushed out of her lungs so that when she felt her spine heal back into place she couldn’t even scream.

her training kicked in as he kicked the coffee table out of the way and she was soon rolling onto her side and grabbing anything she could find to use as a weapon. her eyes landed on the iron fireplace poker. she grabbed it, pulling it from the stand like a sword and swinging. she caught him off guard, catching him in the face with the heavy metal.

he stumbled back, hand going to his face. she took advantage of the distraction. she dropped down to a crouch. her leg shot out and kicked his ankle out from under him.

he landed on the ground with a harsh thud. he made a move to get up but she was quicker.

she got on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

her eyes once more turned the ghostly gray and she connected their psyche. she dove head first into his broken mind, feeling the other being inside and slowly, she began to drain it.

she felt him struggle even more beneath her but her grip stayed strong, growing stronger as she took on the power of the other inhabiting his mind.

her fingers turned gray, the gray creeping up like a poison as she took the life of the other. below her, gambit returned to the man he originally was.

as the process concluded, she let go of him and collapsed to the floor beside him, gasping for air as her body fought the poison. slowly, her body won, the gray disappearing and her eyes returning back to their normal deep blue.

“ it over? ”

she merely nodded.

gambit slowly sat up, taking a few deep breaths. “ i don’ feel him no more. ”

4 months later.

morrigan sat on the concrete front steps of the old house, a coffee cup in her hands.

the rumble of a familiar car engine brought her eyes to her driveway as the car making the noise pulled in beside her own car.

the familiar red eyed devil stepped out, flashing the redhead the smile one would share with a dear friend.

“ what brings you this side of town cajun? ”

“ can’t i visit an old friend? ”

he smiled and sat down beside her. he reached into his pocket, pulling out an envelope and setting it in her lap.

“ what’s this? ”

“ you saved my life, time i repay the favor non? ”