Ashes & Mist: Harbinger of Bad News

[x-eidolon.livejournal.com]

Unable to contact Korvus telepathically, Rachel turns to Haller for an update on the mission.




The endless silence seemed to stretch out in front of her, the abyss an unbridgeable one that caused despair to well up in her chest. She was not one for religion, but at that moment, Rachel could only pray that Korvus could not be reached telepathically because he was unconscious and not lying in a pool of his own blood somewhere in the broken streets of New York, or crushed under the weight of Apocalypse’s boots.

She bit her lip and tried for someone else.

~David?~

~Rachel?~

The reply was immediate: familiar, and touched with relief. Though the necessary distribution of psionic talents between groups normally assured different assignments, Legion had known Rachel for many years.

But the sensation of relief was short-lived. Almost immediately the older psi dampened the link, and all emotional input disappeared.

~Revenant,~ Haller correct, now carefully professional. ~Yes, I'm here.~

At a time when she needed that emotional connection, its dropping away only made her heart fall. Rachel almost scrambled after it, needing to feel reassured but terrified of what she might find.

~Legion,~ she finally projected, keeping the connection steady. ~Comms are down. D’you have an update?~

~Yes. The attack was unsuccessful.~ There was a heartbeat of hesitation, and then the X-Man barrelled ahead, sparing her the agony of having to ask the obvious question. ~We lost the strike team.~

Fuck. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, unwilling to give in to the familiar sensation of being on the brink of tears. ~All of them?~

~All of them. Those not confirmed dead are unreachable, captured. And . . . there weren't many of those.~ The link wavered, and for an instant a mingled pulse of grief and smoldering anger made it through. ~Ray, I'm so sorry. Korvus is gone.~

No. Not him. Not her Korvus. Her precious Korvus. Rachel shook her head in futile denial before she buried it in shaking arms. A sharp pang of grief made itself known over their connection, gathering Haller's emotional leak and magnifying it with an illogical intent to impress upon her friend the sheer pain and terror that now had her heart in a bruising grip. The redhead reached out almost automatically for Kurt's mind as well before she caught herself and stamped down angrily on the pain.

Rachel swallowed bile, and focused on breathing. This time, it was she who withdrew emotionally from the mind link. There would be a better time to grieve later.

~Is your team intact?~

She turned on the television. It was already tuned to the news channel.

~We took some losses on the way out. Mostly among those covering the retreat. We're still assessing the injured before a final tally is made.~ Haller's tone was steady again, but the clinical detachment had returned. He'd fallen back into the protective separation of a communications liaison.

~You know the back up plan,~ she said after a moment, mirroring his tone as she settled in to watch the news fingers drumming restlessly against her thigh. ~I'll ready the team here. Report in with an update when you can and I'll brief you.~

~Acknowledged. Signing off.~ The transmission was formal, but an instant before the older psi let the connection lapse a warm pulse of reassurance, empathy, and shared anguish rippled through the link. A solely personal sharing as quick as a squeeze of the shoulder, and then gone.