Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Wastes ❯ Chapter Forty Three ( Chapter 43 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

In the morning, Lana went to Skyla's room. She knocked and walked in with Angelia in her arms. "Skyla I want to know if-" She looked around but didn't see her. Going down the hall, she looked in the kitchen.

"What are you looking for?" Maverick asked as he looked up from his coffee while Lana bounced Angelia.

"Skyla. Have you seen her?"

"I was the first on up. I haven't seen anyone. Maybe she's outside." He held out his hands and Lana handed him Angelia then walked outside.

Zenith flew around as Maven sat in the tree. His hands danced over a notepad while he drew. "Morning Lana," he said with a small nod.

"Oh, good morning. Have you seen Skyla?"

"No. She left last night to go some place."

"Oh..." She nodded to him and started back inside. "Thanks."

"Yeah.... No problem." He stopped, setting down his pen and looking down at her. "She messed up seeing the future. She didn't see the bomb. I wonder what else she didn't see." Did she make a mistake by bringing him back?

Hailey wasn't her usual self. She didn't run around the house laughing and she didn't go outside. Every time you saw her, she was glued to Xavier. When his hands were full, she was hugging his legs.

"Here you go sweetie," Boris said as he handed her a juice box. He hated seeing her so scared and broken. Xavier was doing the best he could to make her feel more comfortable, but there was only so much that he could do.

Hailey took the juice box and played with the straw. She laid her little head on the table and touched her stitches yet again. "It hurts..."

"It's going to hurt for a little while, but then you'll feel all better," Xavier said with a smile.

She pouted lightly. Picking up the spoon in her food she lightly pushed at it while sipping on her juice box. Evana dropped her coffee cup on the ground and it shattered causing Hailey to scream and start crying.

"Shh! Shh! It's okay sweetie. You're okay," he promised as he hugged her to his chest. He glared at Evana.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to drop it," Evana said as Lana started cleaning it up. With Evana resting her leg for a few days, she was going antsy and getting more clumsy.

"Yeah. She's becoming a real klutz," Sven said with a smirk. Surprised that she had apologized. That wasn't very...Evana-ish.

Xavier sighed as he scooped Hailey into hs chest. "Well I'm going to take her back to my room so she'll calm down."

Lana stood back up and threw the glass away. "Poor Hailey. She's having a rough time," she said after Xavier left. "Xavier said she's not going on missions anymore. We will have to rely on Skyla's knowledge since she knows about medicine from Hailey's past...but...she hasn't come back yet."

"Yeah well, flower girl is probably still upset that she almost got us killed. Of course she had nothing to do with it. Personally I blame the bomb."

"You should have seen the fear in her face when she woke up...she didn't finish the blocks in her mind...I'm afraid she won't come back...she was talking about fixing herself or ending things..."

"How exactly does she expect to 'fix herself'? I don't think they have repair services for that."

"I don't know...she was ranting....I don't even know if she realized I was in the room with her as she paced."

"Right. Because it's always a good idea to let crazy people leave on their own," Sven muttered. He rolled his eyes as he reached into his pocket. "Fuck it. I'll go get the keys from Maverick so we can go find her."

"You want to find her?"

"Yeah. I still need her for Vegas. Can't use her if she's dead."

"Now that sounds more like you. And where the hell would you start looking?"

"I wouldn't. Ten to one Xavier already knows where she's at."

"How can you be certain?"

Sven looked over at him. "Oh hello knife boy," he smirked. "Gee. I don't know. Maybe I could go ask him?"

"Be my guest, but if she doesn't want to be found, she won't be found," he said and sat down next to Lana. Lana reached her hands out with a smile and took Angelia.

"Xavier found some top secret government machine which will change the world. I think he can find one little girl."

"You forget that she can see the future."

"And you forgot that her powers are obviously fucked up."

"They made one mistake. People make mistakes all the time. I'm sure you have messed up a few times."

"Oh yeah. I've fucked up more times than I could care to count. However, I've never felt guilty about it." He grabbed a bottle of water and shrugged. "But if you guys think it's impossible I don't mind staying in bed screwing Evana. But if anything happens to her I'm going to hold you responsible for whatever money I would have won in Vegas."

"Aww, you do care," Maverick smirked.

"I'm so not fucking a married man...again. And as far as I'm concerned, you are still on my hate list and don't talk to me list too,"Evana groaned.

"I care about her powers." He glared at Evana. "Sure. Say what you will. You want me. And I think my marriage was technically annulled you know...when she blew up."

"I still fucking hate you and I don't want you near me. Don't fucking talk to me," she spat.

"Gee. One minutes you're all, Sven hold me. Sven don't leave me. Sven come back for me. Now you've gone back to bitch mode."

"I never said that shit! I did ask you to come back for me because I would have died and I know how you love to leave people behind."

"Yep," he said coldly. "That's me to a T."

"Then me saying that made a hell of a lot of sense!" Ignoring the pain, she stood and started to her room.

"You shouldn't walk on-" Evana shot her a cold look and Lana sunk in her seat.

"Love you too," he muttered as he as he started back to his room. Fuck it. If Skyla killed herself it wouldn't be on his hands.

Skyla paced. She had been gone for two days. She looked at the small hand gun on the rock. A little wolf cub followed behind her. For some reason, he wouldn't leave her alone. His mother was dead and his pact left him behind. She looked at the hand gun again then stopped. The little wolf cub snapped his teeth at a butterfly and she smiled. Looking over at the burned down fortress and the blackened car, she let the moon light air cool off her skin. She had a decision to make.

It had been two days since she'd left. Maven stared outside, wondering if she was dead. She was out there by herself. He was worried...and he hated to admit it.

"So, how's the leg?" Sven asked as he poked his head into Evana and Sarah's room.

Evana looked over at him, turning her back to him, she continued to do what she was doing.

"I'll take that as a 'fuck you'," he smirked. Closing the door behind him, he sat down on Sarah's bed and looked at her. "But unfortunately you're not my type."

"I'll laugh when you start saying something that is actually funny," she said under her breath.

"You know that I'm not the type to settle down right," he said slowly.

"If I cared, I'm sure you would be the first to know," she said as she kept stitching her clothes.

"That's just it. You do care, don't you? That's why you're a bitch to me all the time."

"I'm a bitch to everyone. Don't think too much into it. It's a little sickening," she rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh. And if I said that...I cared about you?"

"Go fuck yourself, Sven. I don't have time for you or for this."

"You can't walk and we're not going anywhere until Skyla comes back. I say you have all the time in the world."

"I can walk. And last time I checked, the girl isn't coming back."

"Xavier seems to think so. He's not giving us the locations to the other pieces until she does."

"Right."

"All I'm saying is that the bitch routine is getting old. We've got a little over four months before the whole world goes to hell and back. I figure that you could do a lot worse than at least trying to act human."

"Just because you have to live in the same house as me doesn't mean I should treat you special. Every man I've know, I've treated the same way. Women get the special treatment because they don't fuck with me as much. If you don't like it, you could always just leave me the fuck alone."

"Fine. I guess I will." He stood and left, pausing to say something but thinking against it. No point in getting her more pissed.

Evana finally stopped working on her clothes. She looked over her shoulder slightly as the door closed then looked out the window. If the world ended that very moment...she would consider it a blessing.

"You too make a very cute couple," Sarah smirked.

"Shut it," Sven muttered. "You care about her more than I do."

Sarah sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know."

Two more days went by and still Skyla hadn't returned. By then, Lana was stressing. Maverick grabbed her arm as she paced and sat her on the bed. Slowly he messaged her shoulders. "Don't stressing. With all the hormones, you'll over work yourself and faint. Just relax."

"I just don't understand why she's not back...I mean...it's been four days..."

Maven knocked on their door. "Do you...mind if I come in?"

Lana shot up but Maverick pushed her back to sit down. He opened the door for Maven. "Yes, of course," he said and let him in before shutting the door. He walked over to the crib and looked at Angelia as she watched the singing bear light up with different color. "What can we help you with?"

"I'm...worried about Skyla," he said softly.

"Me too!" Maverick looked over at Lana and gestured for her to take a deep breath.

"So are we."

He nodded slowly. "I want to go look for her."

"Are you sure? From what I could gather...you aren't very fond of her as of late."

"I'm...conflicted," he admitted. "I can't fathom why she would bring me back; but she gave me very...vivid memories. I still care about her. I certainly don't want her to die."

"None of us wish her harm. And I suppose I understand how you feel, however, when I picked up Skyla from her forest and she showed me everything that happened to her and you...she told me everything she does, and everything she says is for a reason. It starts a chain reaction that sets off a future that she feels will be the best," he said. "She begged for your life for a reason. You have a purpose."

"That chain reaction that she set off, didn't include us getting blown up." He closed his eyes. "What if the purpose she had for me is gone? Or what if it never was?"

"Regardless, your purpose may have changed but you still have one. We all do."

"So does anyone else that could have been brought back."

"Maven, you can either spend your life regretting the past or learn to accept it and make the most of the time you have. Blaming someone, pouting about what might have been...none of it will change the fact that you are here now and it was you that was blessed with this life. Don't take it for granted."

He paused and nodded. "Yes. Of course," he said softly. "So what about Skyla? Can we go look for her?"

"We will leave first thing in the morning."

"Thank you."

"Get a good night's rest."

"I don't even remember what those are," he said with a sad smile as he started for the door.

"Then maybe you should learn to let things go. Stressing will only add to the worries," he said then looked at Lana. Lana blushed. She knew he was talking to her too.

"There are some things you can't let go no matter how hard you try. " He shrugged it off though. It didn't bother him.

"Sure," Maverick nodded.

"Do you want another cookie?" Boris asked as he cradled Hailey in his arms. Xavier was taking a shower, so he had to hold her to keep her calm.

"No."

"Is there anything that you want?"

"No."

He sighed and rubbed her back. "You're safe here, Hailey. No one would ever let anything happen to you."

She nodded. Shifting in her arms she looked at the window. "Is there gas in the house?"

"No sweetie. There's no gas in here."

She nodded again. "Tuck me in?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course." He carried her to her room and pulled off her socks and shoes for her.

She crawled in the bed fully of stuffed animals and laid down. Pulling a teddy bear to her then a zebra, she nestled in the pillow with a yawn.

It was much later that night when Skyla's horse brought her back to the window. Crawling in, she lightly placed the wolf cub on the bed then walked to Hailey's room. She sat the little book she had tracked down in a set of bushes. Evana had thrown it out of the car before the explosion and it had landed in some bushes. Skyla knew where to find it, but she wasn’t sure until two days ago if she wanted to end her life or deliver the book. She brushed Hailey's hair then walked back to her room to find the cub tearing her pillow.

With a sigh, she pulled her pillow from him but he thought it was play time and tugged it. Feathers flew everywhere and she sat on the floor with a sigh. The cub jumped off the bed to play in the feathers. “You know…this is not funny…”

Maven moved as he heard a thump coming from Skyla's room. He crawled out of bed, careful not to wake Zenith who was sleeping on his pillow. Going down to Skyla's room, he opened the door, his heart stopping as he saw her. "You're okay," he said with a sigh of relief.

The little cub dashed for the door. "Sit!" He sat and laid down with a pout face. Pointing to the spot next to her, she watched as he sadly walked over to her and sat down. She went to her bag and got out a treat then handed it to him. Afterward, she started picking feathers out of her hair. "I'm sorry...I woke you. I was trying to be quiet."

"It's...okay," he said slowly, looking at the cub. "Who...what...you have a pet?"

"He followed me. He lost his family but he doesn't talk much. I don't know his name yet."

"Does he bite?"

"Yes," she smirked. "But I'm trying to teach him it's wrong."

"Well...he's a cute little thing," he said with a smile. His eyes traveled up her as he moved over and plucked a feather from her hair. "Where did you go?"

She blushed and looked away. "I needed to fix myself."

"And did you?"

"I'm in training," she said and showed him her arms. She had cuts running up and down them, almost all of her skin on her arms was red with cuts.

He reached out and touched her arms. "What are these from?"

She pulled out a piece of metal. "When I'm in pain, I can't see the future. If I learn to channel that, I'll be able control seeing the future. I'll be able to stop."

"What? So you've been hurting yourself to get stronger?"

"I wouldn't say it like that. It's training," she corrected. She moved from him and picked up the feathers. She threw them away and looked around the room until findings something rubber. After checking it out, she gave it to the wolf cub and he started to play. She closed the door so he wouldn't run out.

He sighed and shook his head. "I wish you could find a way to do it without being hurt."

"Don't worry about it, ok?" she said and sat on her bed. "How is everyone?"

He shrugged. "Haily is still traumatized, but everyone else is just going through the usual drama."

"I see..." she sighed. "Well, I'm going to take a shower and tire out the little guy."

"I'll play with him while you're showering," he offered.

"If you want to. If he bites you, tap his nose. That means no." She went to the bathroom.

"Okay." He sat down and beckoned the cub over to him so that he could play with it.

Skyla took a short shower and stepped out a few minutes later. Drying her hair, she wrapped a towel around herself and went into her room. Stepping to her things she looked down as the cub started licking the water off her ankles.

"He's adorable," he said as he watched him. "I want one."

"I don't think Zenith would like that too much. And I think he's a little attached to me since I can understand him and he can understand me." She pulled out a fresh night gown and a pair of panties. "Thanks for playing with him. I'm sure he'll sleep now."

He stood and nodded. "Skyla... I wanted to.... I mean...." Sighing, he just smiled. "I'm glad that you're okay and that you made it back safely."

"You wanted to...?" she asked softly as she looked at him.

"I wanted to let you know that I don't understand why you brought me back.... But I've come to terms with it. I'm going to live enough for everyone who you could have brought back." He paused and added in a softer note. "And I wanted to let you know that...I'm not mad at you."

She shifted and pulled her towel tighter. "Oh? Well...um...thank you..." she said softly.

"I do care about you Skyla. That hasn't changed."

"Neither has my love for you," she said. Moving from the cub she walked to the bed and sat down.

He nodded and moved toward her. "Get some rest," he whispered, his hand caressing her cheek as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "We'll talk in the morning."

She looked up at him, her heart racing. "You...are going to do great things...that's why I wanted you back. I was willing to let you hate me...but I needed you alive for the world. That's why." She needed to give him a reason. She owed him a reason.

"I will trust you and take your word for it," he promised.

She nodded. Reaching down, she picked up the cub and put him on the bed. He walked around it a bit before laying down with a yawn.

He let his hand linger on her cheek before turning to head to his room.