The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Chapter Fifty Three (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… *twirls * No idea why, lol. InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are smooshy goodness for archving/hosting! :) ProPhile: *GLOMP * Morgan: *sends pretty boys to rub your feet * Readers/Reviewers: *GLOMP * Thanks!!!!!


Rahne gasped, nearly choking herself in her surprise. “What the Hell are you doing?” she screamed, suddenly not caring whether or not they noticed she was gone. “You great daft bint!” She ran forward but stopped short, the heat radiating from Amara too great to allow her near. “Fucking hell!” She had seen Amara engulfed before, but never like this. It was as if the girl had ceased to exist and was pure fire. The great metal beings on the lawn seemed intent somehow, watching, waiting. Rahne swall a c a cry and staggered back towards the expanse of porch. “Amara!” she shouted. “Amara, stop!”
Remarkably, she did. Amara lowered her arms and the flames faded, seemingly shrinking into her skin, her body flickering orange-gold for a moment before becoming a normal flesh tone. Her clothes were largely burned away but she herself was unharmed. Rahne leapt forward, wolf-like speed and agility making the distance negligible. She grabbed Amara by the arms and dragged her bodily back towards the door. “It’s time,” Amara said strangely. “Now.”
“Fucking insane twit,” Rahne muttered, shrugging off her shirt. She would not need it in a moment anyway. “Put this on.” Her pants were next. “They’ll be too short on ye but who cares. Take ‘em.”
Amara paid the now-wolf beside her little mind, slipping into the clothes almost absently. She was staring at the Sentinels, waiting. “Now,” she muttered. “Now.”
Rahne growled, nipping her fingers, trying to get her to move. The first ripple of movement went through the metal things and her heart hammered in her chest. She smelled no fear from Amara, just the ozone smell of her fire. There was a shouting and her head snapped up. Remy was running towards them, something clutched in his arms. _Now what? _ she thought, tugging even harder on Amara’s hand. Amara shook free of her and seemed to come back to this reality at that moment. A rush of fear washed through her, assailing Rahne’s senses. The Nova Roma uttered a faint whimpering noise and backed up several feet, tripping over her own feet but not falling. Rahne growled and nipped at her again, making her move. Amara spun on her heels and ran for the door, barreling straight into Storm.
“Mother of All,” Storm breathed, barely moving as Amara pushed off of her and darted into the house, Rahne at her heels. “Remy!”
He did not even slow down as he passed her, working one hand free to grab her elbow and pull her into the house. “I don’t know what dem tings are,” he said a little too loudly and a little more breathlessly than he would have liked, “but everyone outside know ‘bout ‘em.”
Storm nodded faintly, looking up at the near-soundless _bamf _ near the foot of the sweeping staircase. “Kurt, get the others back here. Now. Leave Kitty and Theresa in the safe room. Remy, what the hell are you holding?”
“Her name Solange,” he admitted a hair sheepishly. “I couldn’t leave her…”
“Kurt, take the baby to the girls in the safe room. I’m not going to have her in the line of fire, so to speak.”
Reluctantly, Remy handed the baby to Kurt, who hesitated. “Storm, what’s going on? What’s the plan?”
“I have no idea,” she said curtly. “Now go! Move fast!”
Kurt hesitated one more time, then ran, reluctant to teleport with a baby. Remy looked at Amara, who had gone several shades paler than was usual for her, Rahne sitting at her feet, obviously anxious to move, to do. “Storm, I ain’t got an idea what dem tings are… I was sure they were gonna get at me ‘fore I could get up here.”
Storm nodded, the slight tremor in Remy’s voice an echo of her own inner nervousness. “I’m not sure either but I know this entire thing has been one mishap after another and if I did not know better, I would place the blame on Emma. This is the second time this house has been used as a trap and we are more the fool for allowing this new deception!”
“Emma isn’t at fault,” Sean reiterated his earlier statement of belief, swinging around the corner from the hallway leading to the basement elevators. “You know Charles would not have let us come here if she had even an inkling of this.”
“Emma,” Storm pointed out coolly, “is a far stronger telepath than any of us give her credit for. If she did not want to be found out, she would not be.” Pointedly tng ang away from Sean, who turned red in his inner fuming, she addressed Amara. “What were you doing out there, Amara? That was foolish!”
She shook her head, her mouth working silently for a moment before words would come out. “I had to… I had to do it. I needed to.” She did not even understand the urge herself. It was a compulsion, a need to prove that she could be useful, that her powers themselves were not a curse. She had failed. Shame came over her like a pall, making her eyes water and her insides feel cold as ice. “I failed.”
Remy raised his brows. “Ain’t no way you coulda done nothin’ against those, chere. Dey ain’t human…”
“Storm!” Jamie burst through the door from a side hall, an old passage meant to provide servants with a decorous exit and entry, minimizing their presence. “Something’s wrong!”
“Tell me about it,” she muttered. “What is it?” She glanced towards the front door nervously, as if expecting one of the metal giants to knock on the door and stroll on in.
“The guys… in Cerebro…” He took a deep, rasping breath. “Someone’s down there with ‘em! I saw him going down ahead of me and I followed but he turned around and saw me!” He was shaking a little, trying to be brave. “I ran but I fell, which was good because I sent the multiples back…” He shook himself, looking ashamed. “I ran.”
“It’s okay,” she soothed, trying to be calm. She glanced at Remy, who nodded. “Take someone with you,” she ordered. “Find Kurt. He’s the best one for this.”
Remy nodded again. “Ah… an’ Jubilee?”
“She’s fine,” Storm said quickly, almost annoyed. “She’s okay. Now go!”
“Jamie, you gotta show me where you ran, d’accord?” Remy said, taking him by the elbow and leading him away.
Storm looked at the girls still in the hall. “This is going to be difficult,” she began, but paused as the lights flickered, then went out entirely. “Hell.”