fic: stay on the merry go round (domino/bishop, rogue)
Stay on the Merry Go Round
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men.
Characters/Pairing: Rogue, Domino, Bishop
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: swearing, character death
Summary: Rogue played games. Domino hates games.
Domino hates people who play games.
There's some who joke around harmlessly (like Toad) or those who poke at the mind and hurt others (like Magneto). But she struggles (so hard) to stay honest and real with herself, surround herself with truthful, good company. It's all she's wanted.
Ironic, actually, because she seems to always end up following delusional people (Quicksilver with his father, Magneto with his stupid war, then Bishop with a plan for a better world, who is she kidding?). Others will fall into her place, she's sure, if she doesn't take the initiative to begin a new life. But what's a new life when everything around you is planted with seeds of filthy lies and truths are laden from sight?
--
"Does Pietro really believe everything Magneto says?"
Domino glances at Rogue, whose head has fallen into her gloved hand. Her face softens at the girl.
"No. Not everything. But he tries."
Rogue scoffs.
--
Her fingers are beginning to ache. She ignores it, but it's still there. Under those black gloves and through the tough exterior of her grayed skin, something hurts.
Domino picks up the gun and shoots again.
Pain doesn't matter. Not anymore.
--
"Let's run away," Rogue whispers to her one night.
The moonlight still floods in and it surrounds Rogue like a mysterious figure in the dark. Briefly, Domino thinks how interesting it is Rogue can speak both their minds without a problem, without caring if anyone else hears it. As far as she knows, Rogue hadn't touched her yet, so there's no way she could know her mind. And she trusts Rogue, so there's no problem.
Sitting from her spot on the couch, Domino stares at her standing form.
"Not tonight."
"C'mon, Dom," she gestures at the night through the large gaping hole of the building. "You tellin' me ya don't wanna get out there? Just fer tonight, Dom."
Domino smiles but shakes her head anyway.
The difference between them is simple: Domino is grown up and Rogue's still learning.
--
Rogue would never get to learn. She dies seven years later by a Sentinel attack. The news reaches her ears when a telepath informs them. "Them" as in the hundred mutants left on earth. Wolverine somehow got a hold of one of the last telepaths before that one must've died too.
Domino thinks about it as she sits alone in some abandoned building, cleaning her gun.
Rogue played games. Rogue betrayed them.
Like a simple "Sorry, Dom," had done it. Domino sighs, remembering how many times 'friends' don't stick around. In any case, hers don't.
--
It's five years later until she meets up with Bishop.
He accidentally almost kills her. She accidentally almost kills him. They both make the mistake in thinking each other are mind controlled by the Sentinels (a new trick the freak-robots came up with two years earlier). It's not until they're pulled apart, bloodied and battered, they're told it's okay and they don't have to go at it.
Domino wraps her rifle over her shoulder and glares at the tall man.
"Sorry for the broken arm," she nods to the wrist he's holding in pain.
He grins. "Sorry for makin' ya scream there."
She doesn't say anymore but it's quietly agreed they're travel together. Or, she'll just follow them until she has to go. It's a survival thing, she's beginning to understand. But Bishop says something about needing each other and she suddenly remembers Rogue.
--
Wolverine's with them. He leaves every now and then to get more recruits. Every time, he comes back with less and less mutants for their little 'army'. No one says it, but Domino knows it means more and more are being killed.
"We're still alive," Bishop breathes out in the cold and leans against the tree. Snow falls from the sky, mixed with ash and whatever else is burning from far away. He turns to her with a quiet, gentle look. "You're still alive."
"Why do you say things like that?" Domino hisses, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. "We're the walking dead. Even Wolverine knows it."
"He believes there's a chance."
"He wants to believe it because he's going to be around for a very, very long time."
"We've been around for a long time."
Domino realizes that for such a young man, he's a rather determined leader. Quicksilver, Magneto, the Professor, Wolverine-they all had plans of success, of peaceful ends. But Bishop seems to dream of fighting for others. As in: giving up his life for a future for others.
And she's starting to feel she's resigned herself the same way he has.
--
They stop by the X-Men mansion. It's really nothing but rumble and they can't stay for long. Bishop says something about meeting Wolverine a few miles from there. So Domino runs to the artillery cabinets and gathers what weaponry she can. Bishop and Sarah come in with clothing from some rooms they found.
Domino doesn't have to look at them to know they found bodies.
"Are we leaving?"
Bishop grunts a yes and they're off through the back. Domino stops short at the makeshift cemetery off by the side. Names are engraved within the stone and she can't help but read them as they run through.
A name calls out to her and she pauses. Bishop notices and stops besides her.
"You knew this one?"
"I knew of them all. But, yeah, I knew this girl."
Placing a hand on her shoulder, the only stretch of physical affection he usually gives, the man waits for her to spend the small seconds in silence.
"Let's go," she takes his wrist and they run to catch up with the others.
Rain begins and she knows it's falling on that particular stone with the words Rogue: beloved friend and trusted X-Man.
--
That aching in her hands doesn’t stop. It's not physical but a pain that cries for her to drop the gun in her hand. However, the trigger is all she's known and that's not going to stop now. Not when there's a whole world to loose.
--
No one here plays games. She thought, at first, Bishop played games, entertaining the thoughts of rescuing the earth from an evil. Maybe she's starting to play these games. Or maybe she actually believes.
"Don't scowl, Domino," Bishop tells her. "It doesn't suit you."
"How would you know what suits me, Bishop?"
"I think six years workin' with you gives me merit."
She smiles and he doesn't bother her about it anymore.
--
"You don't change."
Domino gives him a dull look.
"Gee, thanks. I think I could have done without that comment. But, really, how nice of you."
"No need to be so spiteful," Bishop stares at her seriously, "I mean you don't seem to age."
"What?" Domino raises an eyebrow, shrugs, and goes back to cleaning the barrel of her gun.
"Hey," Marrow pipes up, "He's right, Dom. You don't grow old. I remember since the day we met."
"The day we met I was old enough to be your mother. You wouldn't remember."
"I think that proves her point even further, m'dear," Screech gives a raspy chuckle.
Domino takes her time glaring at everyone who participates in the conversation. Grabbing her gun, she gets up and begins to leave. "I don't really need this right now."
"I'm just sayin' you look like you're my age. And we're years apart," Bishop picks up his own weapon and takes the cloth she had used for cleaning. "Think about it, Domino."
Well. He doesn't kid around, so she does give it thought.
--
It's been more than a few months they've met up with the Professor. She ignores how much she misses Bishop in charge, despite how good a leader Charles can be. Apocalypse is now giving a try at world domination and she thinks about how this sickening cycle will never end.
"Guh...I'm outta cigars," Wolverine complains, throwing his last one in the snow.
Domino ignores him and looks to Bishop, who now usually sits away from the group rather than the center like before. Raising herself, she passes a grumbling Marrow and slides besides him. His eyes set on his hands as they open and close with strain. She recalls herself doing the same years ago, when the aching began.
"What's the matter, Bishop?" her voice comes out more tired than she means.
Letting his arms fall between his legs, he stares ahead.
"Before, I thought we could do this. I thought after we got rid of Mastermind and her goons, we'd be free. But we're going through another war."
She leans against him, her head upon his shoulder.
"Oh, c'mon. You're still a kid. Remember what I would whine about when we first met? 'We're gonna die, we're not strong enough, we can't overcome this, blah, blah, blah," she shoves him and he catches her hand. "We stopped a force all by ourselves, Bishop."
"Yeah," he whispers, as if too exhausted to raise his voice any higher. He squeezes her hand once more and gets up to leave.
She looks forward. On the mountains they climb, snow falls. Winter brings the worst out them.
In the depths of her mind, Domino can see graves still.
--
One of Apocalypse’s henchmen catches Bishop off guard. He calls himself Abyss and she thinks how stupid the name is. They can't touch him but he can surely beat the hell out of them, as they soon find out. Screech gets thrown to the side brutally and doesn't get up. Alarmed, she runs to his aid until she hears Bishop's choked call.
"Neena..."
Swiftly, Domino turns around to see him being raised into the air by the creature. It laughs as Bishop scratches, claws at the ghostly thing. Tendrils of darkness wrap around his neck and throws him into the water. There's a scream from somewhere, a desperate cry for him as she hears bones snap and blood drift through the icy, clear water waves. She can't see him. Can't see the creature drown him. Can't see anything but a gravestone with his name on it.
The blood grows even darker. It's disgusting. She hears Screech cry out for her to do something. But what's she's supposed to do? It's like fighting something that isn't there!
Before she can think anymore, Domino's diving in and searching for him. Wisps of blood grow around her and she fears she's already late for saving their partner. A drumming rings in her ears, deafening her. Her breath starts to leave her lungs but she swishes her arms, kicks as hard as she can to find him.
Something grips her arm and she's suddenly being thrashed around. The air bursts from her lips and she's swallowing water, rather than air. Managing to grip her gun, she shoots at its repulsive, grinning face. It at last hits it and lets go of her.
That's when she spies Bishop, unconscious. Fearful, she swims to catch his arm. Taking him to the shore, she dumps him on the ground. Performing the best CPR she can, he's actually breathing. Barely alive, but he's breathing. She looks at Screech and tells him to get more help. Nodding, he runs off.
She gives a weary look as something emerges from the surface again.
"Nice shot, girly, but it'll take more than a bullet to my face," the dark, black creature rises from the water, ready to walk on the land.
Domino takes out another gun, glares darkly at the monster and pulls the trigger. Abruptly, the water glows with strings of lighting and a painful cry rips trough the air as the henchman is finally defeated. It dissipates from her sight and begins falling in the water.
"Take that, bitch."
A cough erupts from below her and she turns an alarmed look to Bishop. Hiding the relieved smile, Domino gives him room to sit up slowly.
"I think I cracked some of your ribs..."
Bishop offers one brief smile before collapsing onto her form in exhaustion.
--
She notices he doesn't use guns anymore. Instead, he relies on the others to just shoot their energy for him to use his mutant power.
Good for him, she thinks. Because at least his mutant power doesn't have to involve a gun.
Her hands still ache but she won't put the gun down. He got the privilege to. But they're all fighting for the same thing and in order to fight, she needs to ignore the hurt.
--
In the middle of a battle, some bastard shoots him.
As the others rage in the fight around them, she hunches over his body, shooting at whatever enemy comes near. Something wet keeps dripping down on his shirt, but Domino keeps shooting, keeps staying over him. His hand rests on hers, which is tightly pressing against the wound in his chest, stopping the blood flow. Wolverine sent a medic minutes ago and she trusts that maybe they can get to him in time.
When the battle seems to shift away from them, Domino puts down the automatic and leans over him, gritting her teeth and hissing. A shaky hand reaches her cheek and wipes away that curious wetness from her face.
"Don't..." she whispers, brushing his hand away, "Please, save your strength."
He smiles.
"I love you. You know that, don't you?"
More water falls upon his shirt. "I know, I know... Just stop talking. Keep your energy."
The smile is still there when the medics come. By then, she's sobbing.
--
"Domino."
"Don't speak to me."
He nudges her and she turns away.
Their new hideout is another building. Some humans, amazingly, live there. They lent some food in exchange for safety. Wolverine does that for them already. The Professor finds some secluded place and contacts their past counterparts. She thinks that it's hopeless, seeing that everyone were fools in the past.
Bishop calmly says, "I've grown up with battle wounds, Domino. What's one more?"
"One more?" she turns on him, exasperated. "Oh, yeah. That's right. You're throwing yourself away for a good future. I get it."
Disappointed, he crosses his arms. "Don't be a hypercritic. You haven't stopped fighting either."
"I fight because you fight," she finally confesses. Holding a hand to her chest and pointing to the outside, "You think I'm doing this selflessly. But you're wrong. I'm not like you, or the Professor-I don't want to be left behind. And if I don't fight, I'll get left behind. That's the unwritten rule of this messed up army we have."
"Neena," he drops his defensive stance and grabs her shoulders. "I'd never leave you."
She recalls a similar promise from Rogue many, many years ago. Closing her eyes, she allows her head to fall onto his chest as arms wrap around her.
"Don't say that either."
--
"You still look the same," he grumbles.
She smirks. "What? Afraid you'll get the gray hair before I do?"
--
Strangely, Domino finds herself back at the cemetery. The gravestones are knocked over and chipped but she still knows where to find Rogue's.
It hurts. It hurts because she remembers how much she thought Rogue would rise above them. They were so similar and she wonders if the southern gal would have befriended her, even after all these years. Well, that's Rogue. She'd find friends in the weirdest places, catching up on old problems and fixing them somehow.
Domino wonders if Rogue really saw everything in her mind that night when she touched her. Did she see why she chose the life with the Brotherhood? Could she have predicted she would have winded up fighting along with the X-Men? It feels horrible knowing she'll never find out.
"Sorry, Rogue."
She leaves and never looks back.
--
Her body falls to the ground and she hears Bishop call her name. She wants to tell him to shut up, that she'll be just fine. But blood fills her mouth and she can't even breathe anymore.
Suddenly, she feels his weight next to her, amongst the rumble and debris. They got him too. She reaches out and he does the same.
"Neena..."
She closes her eyes, smiling the same smile he loves.
--
The aching in her hands is gone. At last, she doesn't feel the need to hold a gun and defend a purpose. It doesn't hurt any longer.
--
They find them next to each other. Their bodies so close, still sharing the dwindling heat.
Someone kicks her gun away and someone else puts a blanket over them.
--
Their graves are next to each other.
--
In the end, she didn't care if she had played a game. She once believed she hated people who played these games. Maybe her whole life was the charade.
But, damn, she won it anyway.
--
fin.
-
For some, strange, unknown reason, I felt some vibe between the two. Guess it was just me.
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men.
Characters/Pairing: Rogue, Domino, Bishop
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: swearing, character death
Summary: Rogue played games. Domino hates games.
Domino hates people who play games.
There's some who joke around harmlessly (like Toad) or those who poke at the mind and hurt others (like Magneto). But she struggles (so hard) to stay honest and real with herself, surround herself with truthful, good company. It's all she's wanted.
Ironic, actually, because she seems to always end up following delusional people (Quicksilver with his father, Magneto with his stupid war, then Bishop with a plan for a better world, who is she kidding?). Others will fall into her place, she's sure, if she doesn't take the initiative to begin a new life. But what's a new life when everything around you is planted with seeds of filthy lies and truths are laden from sight?
--
"Does Pietro really believe everything Magneto says?"
Domino glances at Rogue, whose head has fallen into her gloved hand. Her face softens at the girl.
"No. Not everything. But he tries."
Rogue scoffs.
--
Her fingers are beginning to ache. She ignores it, but it's still there. Under those black gloves and through the tough exterior of her grayed skin, something hurts.
Domino picks up the gun and shoots again.
Pain doesn't matter. Not anymore.
--
"Let's run away," Rogue whispers to her one night.
The moonlight still floods in and it surrounds Rogue like a mysterious figure in the dark. Briefly, Domino thinks how interesting it is Rogue can speak both their minds without a problem, without caring if anyone else hears it. As far as she knows, Rogue hadn't touched her yet, so there's no way she could know her mind. And she trusts Rogue, so there's no problem.
Sitting from her spot on the couch, Domino stares at her standing form.
"Not tonight."
"C'mon, Dom," she gestures at the night through the large gaping hole of the building. "You tellin' me ya don't wanna get out there? Just fer tonight, Dom."
Domino smiles but shakes her head anyway.
The difference between them is simple: Domino is grown up and Rogue's still learning.
--
Rogue would never get to learn. She dies seven years later by a Sentinel attack. The news reaches her ears when a telepath informs them. "Them" as in the hundred mutants left on earth. Wolverine somehow got a hold of one of the last telepaths before that one must've died too.
Domino thinks about it as she sits alone in some abandoned building, cleaning her gun.
Rogue played games. Rogue betrayed them.
Like a simple "Sorry, Dom," had done it. Domino sighs, remembering how many times 'friends' don't stick around. In any case, hers don't.
--
It's five years later until she meets up with Bishop.
He accidentally almost kills her. She accidentally almost kills him. They both make the mistake in thinking each other are mind controlled by the Sentinels (a new trick the freak-robots came up with two years earlier). It's not until they're pulled apart, bloodied and battered, they're told it's okay and they don't have to go at it.
Domino wraps her rifle over her shoulder and glares at the tall man.
"Sorry for the broken arm," she nods to the wrist he's holding in pain.
He grins. "Sorry for makin' ya scream there."
She doesn't say anymore but it's quietly agreed they're travel together. Or, she'll just follow them until she has to go. It's a survival thing, she's beginning to understand. But Bishop says something about needing each other and she suddenly remembers Rogue.
--
Wolverine's with them. He leaves every now and then to get more recruits. Every time, he comes back with less and less mutants for their little 'army'. No one says it, but Domino knows it means more and more are being killed.
"We're still alive," Bishop breathes out in the cold and leans against the tree. Snow falls from the sky, mixed with ash and whatever else is burning from far away. He turns to her with a quiet, gentle look. "You're still alive."
"Why do you say things like that?" Domino hisses, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. "We're the walking dead. Even Wolverine knows it."
"He believes there's a chance."
"He wants to believe it because he's going to be around for a very, very long time."
"We've been around for a long time."
Domino realizes that for such a young man, he's a rather determined leader. Quicksilver, Magneto, the Professor, Wolverine-they all had plans of success, of peaceful ends. But Bishop seems to dream of fighting for others. As in: giving up his life for a future for others.
And she's starting to feel she's resigned herself the same way he has.
--
They stop by the X-Men mansion. It's really nothing but rumble and they can't stay for long. Bishop says something about meeting Wolverine a few miles from there. So Domino runs to the artillery cabinets and gathers what weaponry she can. Bishop and Sarah come in with clothing from some rooms they found.
Domino doesn't have to look at them to know they found bodies.
"Are we leaving?"
Bishop grunts a yes and they're off through the back. Domino stops short at the makeshift cemetery off by the side. Names are engraved within the stone and she can't help but read them as they run through.
A name calls out to her and she pauses. Bishop notices and stops besides her.
"You knew this one?"
"I knew of them all. But, yeah, I knew this girl."
Placing a hand on her shoulder, the only stretch of physical affection he usually gives, the man waits for her to spend the small seconds in silence.
"Let's go," she takes his wrist and they run to catch up with the others.
Rain begins and she knows it's falling on that particular stone with the words Rogue: beloved friend and trusted X-Man.
--
That aching in her hands doesn’t stop. It's not physical but a pain that cries for her to drop the gun in her hand. However, the trigger is all she's known and that's not going to stop now. Not when there's a whole world to loose.
--
No one here plays games. She thought, at first, Bishop played games, entertaining the thoughts of rescuing the earth from an evil. Maybe she's starting to play these games. Or maybe she actually believes.
"Don't scowl, Domino," Bishop tells her. "It doesn't suit you."
"How would you know what suits me, Bishop?"
"I think six years workin' with you gives me merit."
She smiles and he doesn't bother her about it anymore.
--
"You don't change."
Domino gives him a dull look.
"Gee, thanks. I think I could have done without that comment. But, really, how nice of you."
"No need to be so spiteful," Bishop stares at her seriously, "I mean you don't seem to age."
"What?" Domino raises an eyebrow, shrugs, and goes back to cleaning the barrel of her gun.
"Hey," Marrow pipes up, "He's right, Dom. You don't grow old. I remember since the day we met."
"The day we met I was old enough to be your mother. You wouldn't remember."
"I think that proves her point even further, m'dear," Screech gives a raspy chuckle.
Domino takes her time glaring at everyone who participates in the conversation. Grabbing her gun, she gets up and begins to leave. "I don't really need this right now."
"I'm just sayin' you look like you're my age. And we're years apart," Bishop picks up his own weapon and takes the cloth she had used for cleaning. "Think about it, Domino."
Well. He doesn't kid around, so she does give it thought.
--
It's been more than a few months they've met up with the Professor. She ignores how much she misses Bishop in charge, despite how good a leader Charles can be. Apocalypse is now giving a try at world domination and she thinks about how this sickening cycle will never end.
"Guh...I'm outta cigars," Wolverine complains, throwing his last one in the snow.
Domino ignores him and looks to Bishop, who now usually sits away from the group rather than the center like before. Raising herself, she passes a grumbling Marrow and slides besides him. His eyes set on his hands as they open and close with strain. She recalls herself doing the same years ago, when the aching began.
"What's the matter, Bishop?" her voice comes out more tired than she means.
Letting his arms fall between his legs, he stares ahead.
"Before, I thought we could do this. I thought after we got rid of Mastermind and her goons, we'd be free. But we're going through another war."
She leans against him, her head upon his shoulder.
"Oh, c'mon. You're still a kid. Remember what I would whine about when we first met? 'We're gonna die, we're not strong enough, we can't overcome this, blah, blah, blah," she shoves him and he catches her hand. "We stopped a force all by ourselves, Bishop."
"Yeah," he whispers, as if too exhausted to raise his voice any higher. He squeezes her hand once more and gets up to leave.
She looks forward. On the mountains they climb, snow falls. Winter brings the worst out them.
In the depths of her mind, Domino can see graves still.
--
One of Apocalypse’s henchmen catches Bishop off guard. He calls himself Abyss and she thinks how stupid the name is. They can't touch him but he can surely beat the hell out of them, as they soon find out. Screech gets thrown to the side brutally and doesn't get up. Alarmed, she runs to his aid until she hears Bishop's choked call.
"Neena..."
Swiftly, Domino turns around to see him being raised into the air by the creature. It laughs as Bishop scratches, claws at the ghostly thing. Tendrils of darkness wrap around his neck and throws him into the water. There's a scream from somewhere, a desperate cry for him as she hears bones snap and blood drift through the icy, clear water waves. She can't see him. Can't see the creature drown him. Can't see anything but a gravestone with his name on it.
The blood grows even darker. It's disgusting. She hears Screech cry out for her to do something. But what's she's supposed to do? It's like fighting something that isn't there!
Before she can think anymore, Domino's diving in and searching for him. Wisps of blood grow around her and she fears she's already late for saving their partner. A drumming rings in her ears, deafening her. Her breath starts to leave her lungs but she swishes her arms, kicks as hard as she can to find him.
Something grips her arm and she's suddenly being thrashed around. The air bursts from her lips and she's swallowing water, rather than air. Managing to grip her gun, she shoots at its repulsive, grinning face. It at last hits it and lets go of her.
That's when she spies Bishop, unconscious. Fearful, she swims to catch his arm. Taking him to the shore, she dumps him on the ground. Performing the best CPR she can, he's actually breathing. Barely alive, but he's breathing. She looks at Screech and tells him to get more help. Nodding, he runs off.
She gives a weary look as something emerges from the surface again.
"Nice shot, girly, but it'll take more than a bullet to my face," the dark, black creature rises from the water, ready to walk on the land.
Domino takes out another gun, glares darkly at the monster and pulls the trigger. Abruptly, the water glows with strings of lighting and a painful cry rips trough the air as the henchman is finally defeated. It dissipates from her sight and begins falling in the water.
"Take that, bitch."
A cough erupts from below her and she turns an alarmed look to Bishop. Hiding the relieved smile, Domino gives him room to sit up slowly.
"I think I cracked some of your ribs..."
Bishop offers one brief smile before collapsing onto her form in exhaustion.
--
She notices he doesn't use guns anymore. Instead, he relies on the others to just shoot their energy for him to use his mutant power.
Good for him, she thinks. Because at least his mutant power doesn't have to involve a gun.
Her hands still ache but she won't put the gun down. He got the privilege to. But they're all fighting for the same thing and in order to fight, she needs to ignore the hurt.
--
In the middle of a battle, some bastard shoots him.
As the others rage in the fight around them, she hunches over his body, shooting at whatever enemy comes near. Something wet keeps dripping down on his shirt, but Domino keeps shooting, keeps staying over him. His hand rests on hers, which is tightly pressing against the wound in his chest, stopping the blood flow. Wolverine sent a medic minutes ago and she trusts that maybe they can get to him in time.
When the battle seems to shift away from them, Domino puts down the automatic and leans over him, gritting her teeth and hissing. A shaky hand reaches her cheek and wipes away that curious wetness from her face.
"Don't..." she whispers, brushing his hand away, "Please, save your strength."
He smiles.
"I love you. You know that, don't you?"
More water falls upon his shirt. "I know, I know... Just stop talking. Keep your energy."
The smile is still there when the medics come. By then, she's sobbing.
--
"Domino."
"Don't speak to me."
He nudges her and she turns away.
Their new hideout is another building. Some humans, amazingly, live there. They lent some food in exchange for safety. Wolverine does that for them already. The Professor finds some secluded place and contacts their past counterparts. She thinks that it's hopeless, seeing that everyone were fools in the past.
Bishop calmly says, "I've grown up with battle wounds, Domino. What's one more?"
"One more?" she turns on him, exasperated. "Oh, yeah. That's right. You're throwing yourself away for a good future. I get it."
Disappointed, he crosses his arms. "Don't be a hypercritic. You haven't stopped fighting either."
"I fight because you fight," she finally confesses. Holding a hand to her chest and pointing to the outside, "You think I'm doing this selflessly. But you're wrong. I'm not like you, or the Professor-I don't want to be left behind. And if I don't fight, I'll get left behind. That's the unwritten rule of this messed up army we have."
"Neena," he drops his defensive stance and grabs her shoulders. "I'd never leave you."
She recalls a similar promise from Rogue many, many years ago. Closing her eyes, she allows her head to fall onto his chest as arms wrap around her.
"Don't say that either."
--
"You still look the same," he grumbles.
She smirks. "What? Afraid you'll get the gray hair before I do?"
--
Strangely, Domino finds herself back at the cemetery. The gravestones are knocked over and chipped but she still knows where to find Rogue's.
It hurts. It hurts because she remembers how much she thought Rogue would rise above them. They were so similar and she wonders if the southern gal would have befriended her, even after all these years. Well, that's Rogue. She'd find friends in the weirdest places, catching up on old problems and fixing them somehow.
Domino wonders if Rogue really saw everything in her mind that night when she touched her. Did she see why she chose the life with the Brotherhood? Could she have predicted she would have winded up fighting along with the X-Men? It feels horrible knowing she'll never find out.
"Sorry, Rogue."
She leaves and never looks back.
--
Her body falls to the ground and she hears Bishop call her name. She wants to tell him to shut up, that she'll be just fine. But blood fills her mouth and she can't even breathe anymore.
Suddenly, she feels his weight next to her, amongst the rumble and debris. They got him too. She reaches out and he does the same.
"Neena..."
She closes her eyes, smiling the same smile he loves.
--
The aching in her hands is gone. At last, she doesn't feel the need to hold a gun and defend a purpose. It doesn't hurt any longer.
--
They find them next to each other. Their bodies so close, still sharing the dwindling heat.
Someone kicks her gun away and someone else puts a blanket over them.
--
Their graves are next to each other.
--
In the end, she didn't care if she had played a game. She once believed she hated people who played these games. Maybe her whole life was the charade.
But, damn, she won it anyway.
--
fin.
-
For some, strange, unknown reason, I felt some vibe between the two. Guess it was just me.