Between a Bear and a Hard Place(24)

Jill already had the old Nokia in her hand, and was already flipping it over. “Hello?” she asked.

On the other end was just fuzzy static and a bit of a hiss. “Hello?” she asked again. “Hellooo?”

“Rogue?” The voice was raspy, sounded a little confused, and vaguely familiar. Whoever it was coughed lightly. She heard the flick of something – a cigarette lighter? “Draven?”

Without a second’s pause, Rogue jumped to his feet and snatched the handset from Jill’s hands. She glared at him for a second, but then shrugged and went back to putting crap in the kitchen cabinets as Rogue hunched over the countertop, talking very quietly.

“We gotta go,” he said as he stood up for a moment, before hunching back down, to brace himself on the counter. “Ugh, uh... maybe it can wait a few minutes.”

“Draven?” Jill’s passivity turned into a curled lip. “What could he have wanted? I thought he was on the run or in hiding or something.”

“He is,” Rogue sighed, managing to slowly settle himself back down into the same chair. “That is true. But there’s more.”

King snarled and released a low growl. “He’s a traitor.”

“He saved us, King,” Rogue was clearly losing his patience with this subject. “Whatever you think of him personally, he made his reasons for leaving the clan pretty clear.”

“But there was that mutant, that... experiment.”

The way his words curled from his lips made Jill’s stomach gurgle slightly. There had been a bear who attacked them, apparently a cousin or a brother, or... well it wasn’t ever terribly clear with these bears. Regardless, he attacked them, Jill filled him full of lead, and that was the end of it. And until just now, she hadn’t much thought about those events – mostly to protect herself, if she was being honest.

“Okay,” she said. “Fine, so he’s done some shady shit in the past, but Rogue’s right – he did save us from GlasCorp. Maybe he should have another chance? Maybe don’t think he’s out to get you for no particular reason?”

King grumbled and frowned down at the floor, momentarily defeated by logic, but still not liking it one damn bit.

“Fine,” he growled. “I don’t have to like him if there’s something that needs to happen. I’ll give him that.”

“Thank you,” Rogue said with a snarky grin. “Very generous of you. But we need to go. He said we were in a hurry, he said—”

“What is?” Jill cut in. “What’s the big hurry? What’s the rush?” Suddenly, something hit her in the stomach. And it was a hit. It was like a fist crashing straight into her gut, forcing the air out of her lungs. “Did he find someone? Something?”

“No,” Rogue said. “Someone found him.”

That, to her recollection, was the fastest that Jill had ever packed a bag, and the fastest Rogue ever moved. And no matter whether or not he’d admit it, King moved fast too. Whatever it was, he was either panicked, or hopeful.

As usual with King, it was hard to tell.

Very hard.

But something was bothering him. That much, Jill could see.





-8-


“What the hell was that thing? What’s up with all the bears everywhere?”


-Claire


“Why are you doing this?” Stone was grim-faced as ever as Fury gathered some things in the pre-dawn darkness. “How are you going to find your way to town? And what are you going to do with a dog when you get it?”

Fury shrugged. “She gave me vague directions from the GlasCorp building to her house. And from there, she said something about a leash, and sacks of dog food, but to be honest with you, I figure I’ll just tell the dog to follow me and things will work out.”

Stone looked very irritated. “What if you get caught? What if you wander too close to GlasCorp and get taken back to... that place?”

“I won’t,” Fury said simply. “And even with being locked up for all those years, I know you can feel directions as clearly as I can. By the stars? The sun? Finding my way through the woods won’t be a problem.”

“You’re sure about this?” Stone had one of his brows furrowed in concern, but his face was softening. “Why? What’s the purpose of a tag-along dog?”

“It’ll make her happy,” Fury said, nodding toward Claire’s slumbering form. “That’s worth the danger. It’d be worth any danger.”

The two exchanged a quick glance, nodded, and before another moment could pass, Fury was shifted and running back toward the horror he’d just escaped. This time though, he was coming back with a friend.