The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

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

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch, Uberbeta and Princess of Chopsticks… *glomp * *ahem* InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are Peeps goodness for archiving/hosting. :) ProPhile… hm. I’m blank, lol. It’ll come to me. Morgan: *poke* Readers/Reviewers: Soon, poppets, soon… smut will be along soon… ;)

“What is it?” Bobby asked under his breath, backing behind Logan.
“Who,” St John corrected. “It’s a who…”
Lance and Todd scooted closer together, almost unconsciously. Behind them, Emma lay immobile on the platform, a pale white and gold length on brushed chrome, like an offering to an ancient god. “I think,” Lance said after a long, tense moment, “this is going to be messy.”
“Only if I’m lucky,” Logan responded, body tensed and claws unsheathed. “St John, c’mere.” Logan nodded at the door. “Get rid of that.”
St John squeezed Bobby’s hand and trotted forward, fishing his lighter from his pocket. “It’s really very nice, Bobby. Hate to do this…” His devilish smile seemed to give lie to his w, th, though, as the small flame flickering from the lighter became a fireball, washing over the thick wall of ice blocking the door.
“Quite alright,” Bobby muttered. “Remind me to hide that lighter later, would you?” he added to Lance. “I have some things I don’t want burned. Like me…”
The ice became a steaming puddle in no time, St John retreating back behind Logan as soon as the flame vanished. Sileneigneigned, everyone staring at the door expectantly, not sure who or what was going to come through. Todd glanced quickly at Emma and frowned. “Uh, Logan… I don’t think she’s breathin’…”
Logan hissed a curse under his breath. “Check. Make sure before you tell me that.” He did not so much as twitch as the door thumped, something striking it from the other si “Co “Come on in,” he shouted, “it’s open!”
Todd was bent over Emma when the door slid open, his fingers on her neck, palpating desperately for her pulse. His head shot up as a low laugh sounded from the doorway. “She’s not dead…merely…not alive,” Mesmero informed him.
“This guy again. Great. You’d think Magneto could afford better help,” Lance snapped, wishing he were on solid ground instead of the metal platform.
Logan smirked faintly, his eyes flicking briefly over Mesmero’s purple robe. “If I’d known this was a formal occasion, I would’ve dressed up.”
Todd had the sense to move Emma as Logan sprang forward. Reality seemed to flicker for a moment and he shook his head, clearing, it dodging as Mesmero slid by, thrown away from the only exit. “Hey! I’m workin’ here!”
Logan did not reply as he crouched over the intruder. He pressed one claw to Mesmero’s throat and growled, “You start talkin’ now or I’m gonna let Emma here ream your mind raw.”
“Hard to do in her state, neh?” Mesmero chided, breathless from the brief, one sided tussle. “A vegetable is useless in terms of psychic ability, I would think.”
Logan restrained himself-barely-from slamming Mesmero’s head against the floor. Bobby’s comment was only one of the things that stopped him. “There’s someone else out there…”
Logan tightened his grip on Mesmero. “Who’s with you, bub?” He shook him, making the man’s eyes roll back slightly.
“It’s us!” Jamie cried, sounding younger than he would have liked. “What’s going on?” He tentatively entered Cerebro, followed by Remy, one card drawn and his bo clutched in one hand.
Logan sighed. “Remy, get him out of here. Get all of ‘em. Me and Mesmero here are gonna have a little talk…”
Remy frowned. Something was not quite right with the scenario. “Jus’ a moment, Logan…”
“I don’t think this is the time for a big moment,” Bobby opined, already heading for the door, St John ow. ow. Lance was maneuvering Emma to his shoulder, Todd giving her a none-to-helpful shove. “You can have a soliloquy later.”
Remy glared. “Logan, Jamie said he saw someone comin’ down here. Jamie, was it Mesmero you were seein’?”
Jamie stared frankly at the unmistakable man with the dark markings on his shaven head and the flowing purple robes. “N…no. No it wasn’t.” He shook his head, his eyes flicking up toan’san’s. “The guy I saw was…pale. Very pale. Looked like a drowned rat.”
Remy narrowed his eyes. “Bobby, St John, git back dere avec Todd an’ Lance. Lance, put her down, d’accord?”
Lance considered questioning the Cajun but thought better of it. The card clutched between the older mutant’s fingers was shining faintly, as if alive with energy. “Right on,” Lance muttered, retreating to the console. “If you kill me, you know Amara’s gonna kick your ass, right?” he commented, his eyes on the card.
“It’s a risk I’m gonna have to take,” Remy shrugged. He glanced at Logan, who was dragging Mesmero to his feet. “Now, I gotta wonder where dis drown rat gone to…”
Mesmero’s smile was thin and his eyes glittered with something like wicked pleasure as Logan jerked him around to face the door. “So which way’s he gonna come from, bub?” Logan asked roughly. “He got any friends?” His senses were working over time but he could not detect anyone new. He could smell each individual scent, even hear the mild hitch in Todd’s pulse as it raced, but that was it. There were no new identities to sort out. JamiJamie swallowed hard, sticking close to Remy. He was too close, however, and tripped over his own feet, sending Remy sprawling in the process. While Remy simply swore and sprang to his feet again, the card still firmly in his grasp, Jamie groaned and rose slowly as four. In the brief few seconds that followed the collision, it was like a vacuum, lacking sound and sensation. Then the world seemed to dissolve and explode ad thd them. St John cried out as the lighter, still in his hand, sprang to life, flame flowering from the metal casing. Bobby jerked back, burned, and tried to smother the uncontrolled fire with ice, but succeeded only in coating the walkway between them. Lance fell back, his head throbbing and body jerking with the need to pour his powers into the earth. Todd was the only one seemingly not affected. He crouched, eyes narrowed, mouth clenched tightly shut against the slihreahreatening to rise in his throat. Remy grabbed the nearest Jamie and shoved him towards the still-open door, reaching for the next one as Logan fairly roared in confused frustration, lifting Mesmero off his feet. Before he could demand anything of the minion, a sharp cry rent the room. One of the Jamies had fallen, contorting and gasping for air, the other one near him vanishing in a blink. The two Remy had shoved from the room stared, horrified, at their other on the floor. The contortion stopped and all was silent. “Oh, no,” Bobby breathed, shaking as he stared.
Logan threw Mesmero onto the floor, hard enough to knock his head against the metal platform and render him unconscious. “Fucking hell. Remy, CPR. Todd, get your ass in gear and get help.” Logan glanced at Emma and sighed. “I’m gonna blame you for this.”