Genosha - For Free Trade: Lost and Forsaken

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

Layla and Megan

The metal shelf that Layla was fairly certain was meant to serve as a bed if it had a mattress on top of it was very quickly found out to be freezing cold. Rather than sitting on it the blonde had chosen a spot on the floor. The concrete was warmer than the metal, though not by much. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her arms ringed them. Layla's sense of modesty hadn't managed to diminish even though only Megan was sealed into the room with her.

Blue eyes wandered over the walls in a useless hope that there might be a weakness they could exploit to get free. Layla found no such thing. Her eyes came down from the ceiling to find Megan's face, intentionally keeping her gaze high to afford the other girl what privacy she could given their respective states of undress. "What do you think they're gonna do with us?" Layla's attempts to keep the fear out of her voice only hollowed it out, like it wasn't even really her speaking the words in a weird way.

Megan's response sounded really far away, even though there was only a small distance between the two girls in the small cell. "I don't know. Are they going to try to ransom us? Kill one of us every hour until their needs are met?" She didn't convey any emotion in her airy, high voice. She didn't even really seem concerned for her modesty, although she did have her back to the door. She was sitting on her hands to keep her skinny butt from touching the cold ground. "What do they want, anyway?"

"For us to stop telling everyone about how, totally fucked up they are to mutants," Layla replied, yelling the last bit so whoever was outside their cell could hear her. She was, perhaps, a little recklessly pissed off in addition to being so damn scared about what was going to happen. The blonde was nothing if not full of false bravado. "They're bastards and if they think kidnapping a bunch of kids and holding them fucking hostage is gonna get them what they want then they're fucking idiots. Because all they're doing is proving us right. Proving everyone right. Fucking uppity dictator bastards." She finished in a grumble, a sullen note to match the sudden slouch of her shoulders.

A guard appeared through the window. "HEY! Keep it down in there! Don't make me gag you."

Megan jumped. They certainly weren't lax with their watch. Especially considering that the girls were depowered, helpless and well... naked. Oh. Eew. She slipped her hands out from underneath her to hug herself tightly.

"They think we're the terrorists," she whispered. "How does any of this make sense? Maybe we should talk about something else for a bit."

"Like how nice the weather is?" Layla returned flatly. "Sorry, I'm not sure what else there is to talk about. They kidnapped us, stripped us while kidnapping us, threw us in jail and...what else do we talk about?" Other than how she was totally going to kill them if they did anything to Sarah.

"That, or... say we get our clothes back, but they mixed them up. Who's outfit would you want to get, besides your own?" It was a really weird thought that just popped out of nowhere.

"Matt's," she replied almost immediately. "Or Korvus'. Because they would probably fit. Most of the girls are too short. Or too girlie. You could give me Nico's clothes, except for how she's not here. Um, yeah, stickin' to the guys. Their shit would be more comfortable, too. What about you? I mean, you got a whole wings thing to worry about."

"Yeah, I used to wear really big hoodies all the time that covered my wings, but I probably looked like a shoplifter. I'd take one of the guys' baggy clothes now. Or maybe it would be interesting to dress like one of the teachers." She was starting to sound more normal, although still scared.

"Like Ms Frost?" Layla smiled a little, mostly because Ms Frost was sort of feisty and she hoped the teacher was giving these people hell still. Um...if she was conscious. "'Cause she's sorta snazzy. I wonder if she's gotten her Frostbite on."

"Yeah, hmm..." Megan dropped her voice even lower. "Do you think someone will break us out? Or will we have to find our own way out?"

"Never count on anyone to come and save you," Layla told her friend in a low, quiet voice. Normally she wasn't one for putting cynicism out there like that but look where they were. "If we wait for someone else to show up and save us we might never get out. We gotta try to find out own way outta here. If there is one."

"Do they ever open the door? They are probably just going to slide food through the window, if they bother to feed us. What about the old pretend-you're-seriously-hurt-and-get-the-guard-to-come-then-hit-them-and-run-away routine? Think they have any interest in keeping us alive?" Megan tried to remember any other escape plans that seemed to work in movies.

"I bet they're armed." Layla kept her voice low in case the guard was outside listening in. "If we could get a guard in here and surprise attack them then we could maybe pull weapons off them and....then we'd still be naked wandering around here and we don't know the layout. I guess we could steal the guard's clothes. I wonder how many are out there and how well we could sneak around to find the others and get them out before we get caught? If we got enough of the others out we could maybe have a fighting chance. I think we need a better plan than just faking injury. I don't think they care that much about us."

"What if... we say we'll give up secrets? So someone will come in here to talk to us. Do you think they're after information? But, I'm not a very good liar and I don't want to end up being tortured..." Megan trailed off.

"I'm a good liar, but I dunno. They want Xavier to stop putting his nose in their business or whatever." Layla frowned and slouched down, chin coming to rest atop a knee. "I don't think we've got anything they actually want."

Megan sighed. "I guess not." She was tired but didn't want to lie down on the floor or the crappy metal shelf. She didn't even know if she could sleep, as the suspense of what was to happen to her was gnawing on her brain. "Hey, can I sit and lean my back against your back?"

Not usually one for much physical contact - excepting Sarah, of course - under normal circumstances Layla would have sort of cringed and said no or tried to noncommittally say it was okay while trying to make the point she would rather, well, not. But under the circumstances... Layla pivoted so the wall was at her side instead of at her back. Since Megan had more or less been hiding from view where she was the blonde chose to face down the door so Megan could keep hiding as much as possible. "Yeah, c'mon over. Maybe we can sleep in shifts or something. Y'know, have each other's back literally and keep an eye out and maybe the other one can sleep?"

Megan smiled weakly and crawled over to Layla. With a brief clattering of wings, she folded them down, the tips touching the ground, so they wouldn't scrape against the other girl - whose warmth felt really comforting against her back. "Thanks. Yeah, that's a good idea." She had no idea what time it was. "When one of us gets really sleepy, wake the other one? Do you want to sleep first?"

"Nah, you can sleep. I don't think I can. But sounds like a plan, the waking the other one when we get sleepy thing, I mean." Layla had her eyes trained on the window in the door. Now that Megan couldn't see her anymore she felt the steely determination in her expression fade down until her eyes were filled with how scared she was. It was so easy to put on the brave face for a friend. But now that she was alone with the door in a sense...it was hard to keep up the act. But the heat from Megan's skin and the feeling of where Layla's skin met her wings was oddly comforting. They were so totally fucked, but at least they weren't alone, right?

Layla let an arm drop from around her knees so her hand could reach back and find Megan's. It laid lightly over the other girl's, the blonde's silent reminder to her friend that she had her back. At least as best she could.