Genosha: For Free Trade - Lost and Forsaken

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Molly had  found an empty corner, away from the metal wall. It was probably cold. She was already cold and she didn't wanna be colder. And she tried to be small, and curled up in the corner, small as she could possibly be, hiding behind her hair draped over her knees like a curtain. Cause there was nothing else to hide with. They still didn't have clothes. And she could hear the clang clang clang of the boots as the bad guys came to look in and it made her feel embarrassed.  She wanted her hat. And clothes. And she wanted to go home and live under the bed to hide. 

Sniffling every once and awhile, Molly reached under her hair to wipe her eyes as she rested her forehead on her knees. 

"Hey." Callie had no idea how long she had been asleep (a few minutes? a few hours? there was no way to tell) when she woke to the sound of sniffling from the corner. She stretched out; her limbs were sore and numb from the cold, and she could feel a bruise forming from where her hip met the cold slab. "Molly? Is that you?" 

The first word Callie spoke made Molly jump and she pulled herself tighter into her little ball. She didn't say anything, though the head of hair moved a little to show a bit of a nod. 

Callie slowly sat up, trying to stretch out all the kinks that had sprung up all over her body, and glanced over at Molly. She rose, took the several strides necessary to cross the cell, and crouched down next to the younger girl. "Hey," she repeated softly, her hand brushing a section hair back behind Molly's ear. "I'm scared too. But I know the X-Men are looking for us." 

Molly was not expecting to be touched, so when Callie brushed her hair back she jumped again, shying away like she'd been shocked. She swallowed, slowly looking up. "W...what...." Her cheeks had been stained with so many tears that they caught what light there was from the bare bulb and gave off a faint shimmer when she turned her head. 

"What if they don't?" she whispered softly. It was slow, hushed, drained.  "What if they can't? They'll get them too." 

Her lip quivered, and it made her entire body quiver too.  She turned her head toward the light again and her eyes shimmered. She blinked owlishly and tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"Why? Why are they doing this to us?" 

That question had certainly crossed Callie's mind, and she had long ago relented to the fact that there was no real answer other than "because they want to." But that wasn't exactly something that you told a teenage girl who was scared out of her mind. And truth be told, Callie wished she hadn't come to this realization; it terrified her that anyone would want to do this. What else would they do? What was their limit? 

"I don't know, Molly." The chloropath plopped down onto the cold, hard floor. "I don't have the answers to those questions. There are just some evil people out there. People who do what they want, and don't care how many people they hurt in the process. 

"But there are more good people," she was quick to add. "And this thing isn't over yet. So don't give up hope, because if you give up then you've let them win." 

Molly stared at Callie thoughtfully for a little while, then swiped the tears away from her eyes and nodded a little. 

"I tried to punch one but it didn't work. It hurt," she said quietly. 

She held out her hand, which had splotches of purple and blue and yellow. She thought she was going to be unsquishable forever. Wasn't that what happened when you got your powers? Weren't you always supposed to have them? 

"Do you think we'll get our powers back?" she said. 

Callie gingerly cradled Molly's mottled hand, turning it over to examine the bruising. "It looks like you still hit him pretty hard." It looked like the younger girl had punched a wall, not a person. "I'm sure that he didn't get off uninjured, either. But you'll be fine," Callie assured her, lowering Molly's hand. 

"And we may not get our powers back. Who know's what they did to us. But losing our powers wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, all things considered." 

Molly frowned. "He had armor on. Didn't even move when I hit him...." she mumbled, glancing down. That sucked. She shook her head. 

"I don't wanna be squishable. I don't like it." 

"Hey now." This was not the best time to laugh, and Callie tried to conceal her amusement as she hugged Molly's shoulders. "I'm squishable. It's not the end of the world, I promise. We live fulfilling lives, just like everyone else." 

After a few moments Molly rested her head against Callie. "I know," she said.  "But...I was...I was gonna be a superhero...help people...I can't now...I'm not like Batman." 

She looked down. "He's smart," she said, then shrugged. 

"Being unsquishable is all I have." 

"Shhh...." Callie ran her fingers through Molly's hair, rocking her back and forth. "You are more than being unsquishable. And you can still be a superhero; they come in all shapes and sizes, right?"

Molly shrugged again looking away. "Maybe..." she said with a tinge of hope in her eyes that died away when she saw a shadow darken the cell door as one of the bad guys looked in. 

"Separate," the man ordered. 

The older girl raised her hands and scooted away from her cellmate, her eyes locked on the Magistrate. Callie wanted to say something, to tell the man at the door to leave them alone, that they weren't doing anything wrong, and couldn't he see Molly was scared? But she didn't, of course. For starters she didn't want to bring on more punishment, and secondly, they obviously wanted to keep Molly scared and compliant. 

As soon as the man left her view, Callie let out a sigh and dropped her arms. "Come on, Molly," she said, glancing at the younger girl. "Why don't you take the slab? Try to get yourself some sleep. I'll be right here." 

Molly let out a breath when the bad guy left. She'd been holding it when he showed up, burying her head against her knees until she heard him go away.  Under a curtain of hair that covered her eyes she lifted her head. "O...okay," she said.

Crawling over to the slab, she shivered at the cold as it touched her skin and she curled up tight into a ball. Every sound made her jump. 

Callie watched silently as her cell mate flinched at every sound, wishing there was something she could do to help the younger girl. Morning would hopefully come soon, and with it, Callie prayed, the possibility of some good.