Fractals

Fractals Chapter Sixty Four (NC-17)

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A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch, and Uberbeta… *kicks computer
gnomes* Happy Yule, chica!style='mso-spacerun:yes'> InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are
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Jstyle='mso-spacerun:yes'> ProPhile: *poke * Juuuuuuuuuuuuust
around the corner…. Morgan: *poke pokeclass=GramE>* Because I can.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Readers/Reviewers:style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Happy Yule to y’all, too! style='font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";
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“Stop,
stop, I need to breathe…” Jubilee leaned
against the side of the van, panting.
She had no idea how Belladonna could run so far, so fast, not even
jostling Solange, without breaking a sweat or even
looking mussed.

Belladonna
stopped, turned on her heels and frowned.
“How on earth do you expect to be a vital part of a team if you’re
slowing them down? She patted the
snuffling baby in her carrier and sighed.
“We’re close. A mile, maybe a shade over.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You will have to run more.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> How much time do you need?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Each second is a second out of their lives,
you know.” A blonde ringlet slithered
across her eye, causing her to blow upwards agitatedly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Damn it, Jubilation, I am not leaving you
here but I am not going to wait for you a moment longer!”

Jubilee
narrowed her eyes and frowned. “Why are
you so anxious? I thought you were less
than enthusiastic about this.” Her
breath no longer burned in her lungs but her legs were threatening to buckle
under her if she stood up on her own. Sweat
trickled down the back of her neck, plastering her t-shirt to her body under
her yellow coat. She felt, she thought
glumly, gross.

Belladonna
snorted. “We would be much less obvious
if you lost the coat, m’dear.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She glanced around, her eyes taking in more
than they seemed to, adding, “I could care less about the rest of them.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They have done nothing for me to deserve my
intervention. But Remy…and by extension
now, you… I am here for him.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She sniffed and started walking at a very
fast clip in the direction of their destination.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Jubilee groaned aloud and trotted to catch
up, her legs burning in protest. “If
these Friends of Humanity are allowed to have this job done, it will set a bad
precedent,” she said casually. class=GramE>“Merde.” She stopped again and
patted her left arm angrily. class=GramE>“My bracelet! I left
it in the train!”

class=GramE>“How?” Jubilee gasped, though from lack of breath, not
surprise. “You didn’t take it off…style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You couldn’t have…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Belladonna had had a tight grip on the baby
the entire time, bracing her from being jostled by the bouncing, rocking, empty
car. It had taken three class=GramE>hours, most of it spent on the empty train car originally
intended for something industrial and heavy, to get from the guild house to the
outskirts of town near Magneto’s place.
Jubilee had followed unquestioningly for most of it, after Belladonna
had killed the two men in the alley, but she was starting to wonder at the
other woman’s motives.

“I don’t
know,” Belladonna snapped. She gritted
her teeth and felt her arm again, checking to see if the silver chain with it’s
small, deadly blade had somehow slipped up her sleeve.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Merde!”

“Look, we’ll
find it later. Come on, let’s get it
over with.” Jubilee started forward but
was stopped by Belladonna’s hand on her arm.
“Leggo!”

“The
bracelet is my marker,” she hissed. “If
we are being followed, if the men have been found, the bracelet will lead the
new ones to us.” Solange’s
soft snuffling complaints becoming louder, tinged with plaintive cries.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “If it is found, we will lead them directly
to your friends.”

Jubilee
vented a harsh sigh. “There is no way they are good enough to be able to find
us just because you dropped a little bracelet on a train car somewhere.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You’re the one who said we needed to hurry so
let’s hurry!”

Belladonna
looked uncharacteristically upset. “You
will never understand the guilds,” was all she said in response.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She did not run again but she did move fast,
making Jubilee struggle to keep up. “When
we get there, I am not sure what we will find.
Let me take the lead.”

“No way… I’m
not gonna be your sidekick,” Jubilee snapped.href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">style='mso-special-character:footnote'>class=MsoFootnoteReference>[1]style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I train my ass off so I can take care of
myself and my friends. I ain’t gonna
follow you, chickie.”

Belladonna
growled. “Just do
it, otherwise I’ll kill you myself!”

Jubilee
blinked in surprise at this vehemence but remained silent.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The last bit of distance to their destination
was fraught with tension and uncertainty.
The sight of all the cars and vans and news vehicles outside made both
women stop short. “Damn.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This is gonna be messy, isn’t it?”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She tried in vain to catch her breath and
look calm in the face of their situation, but the best she could manage was
looking shaky and pissed off.

class=GramE>“More than likely, oui.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Belladonna hitched Solange
on her hip and seemed to rifle through several mental plans before settling on
one. “First, we find somewhere to hide
the baby, non?
I can pass for a guest, no doubt, and ask one of the house staff to
watch her. You must remain hidden. Your
face is known here better than mine is.

Jubilee
nodded. “Fine… but what are we going to do really?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> No one is going to be able to protect class=SpellE>Solange if something happens like, oh, I don’t know, a huge
freakin’ fight with people who make things go boom!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She began pacing, trailing her fingers along
the wrought iron fence that marked the edge of Magneto’s property.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “We could just go balls out on this and do
it. No prisoners
type, you know?”

class=GramE>“Charming imagery.
No.” Belladonna stared at the
house and assembled crowd, her eyes going strangely bright. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “We do this my way, chere.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> ‘sonly way to get
out of this in one piece.”

Jubilee
frowned. Belladonna never slurred her
speech. Something was definitely up with
the Creole woman, something that made Jubilee very nervous.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Belle, look… this doesn’t have to be some
flashy entrance…we can be subtle. I can
do subtle, believe it or not… It’s safer
when we’re subtle….” She reached out
tentatively, something driving her to lay a comforting hand on Belladonna’s
arm. “Okay?”

Belladonna
became very still, Solange falling silent.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You can be subtle if you want,” she said
after a moment. “I need to do it this
way. Come on.”