Dark Angel (A 001 prequel story)

13 - Normal and Free

In the morning she felt no regret nor other bad feelings.
She felt good, so she smiled when she saw Peter at breakfast.
She turned alert only when he approached her to get some sugar for his coffee and whispered to her ear "I didn't sleep at all last night. I couldn't stop thinking of how you moved against me".
Rose didn't look at him, but felt her cheeks burning red.
"Are you making things harder now?" she hissed glancing around.
Jason was peering at them from the other side of the cafeteria, but she didn't think that he would put her in trouble.
"Just wanted to let you know. See you later" he whispered quickly and strode away.
Rose joined Jason, making sure she gave her back to wherever Peter decided to take his seat.
"Everything's alright?" Jason inquired.
"Yes. I just hate to assist when the children fight with telekinesis" it wasn't a lie but not even the full truth.
"I've never been allowed to see that, but it must be interesting".
"Not when seeing the bruises they get and how they are affected by exhaustion. Ask Emily. She dislikes these duels as much as I do".
Jason shrugged "I know. But it's to make them stronger when using their powers. We all were clumsy and got bruised when we learned to walk. But now we walk easily as we easily breathe".
Rose smiled at that weird comparison. She truly wished to master her powers so she could use them as skillfully as she breathed and used her muscles.

Standing in the test room, she nervously watched as Two defeated all the younger children.
Peter had been putting a blindfold to all of them and the mischievous grin that he shot at her for a moment wasn't fair.
Someday she would be the one to put a blindfold on him. And maybe even tie his limbs. And then leave him be frustrated as he did with her the previous night.
The naughty ideas made her cough.
"Rose? Are you alright?" Brenner asked, surprising her.
She didn't even hear him stepping closer to her.
"Sure" she said quickly, forcing a smile.
"You seem to need some rest. You can take a break, now that the practice is over" he said gently. He acted like a father and she smiled with gratitude, but as she dismissed herself and walked away, she couldn't get out of her mind the image of Peter after being punished with electroshock and the shame and anger when she discovered that parasite called Soteria stuck in his neck.

She reached a bathroom and threw some fresh water to her feverish face, letting it sooth her feelings.
She really needed to put some order into her messy mind. Put duties in front of her desires. She couldn't afford to daydream in public.
The door opened and she heard some soft steps. Then it closed and it was locked.
Alarmed, she turned. But it was just Peter.
She grew more restless since he just locked them into a public bathroom.
"What makes you so upset?" he asked walking to her with a worried frown.
"I'm fine" she said grabbing the sink behind her.
He sighed "I just needed to check on you. I saw Brenner talking to you and I feared that something was wrong".
"He just said that I should take a break".
Peter started to pace back and forth, brushing a hand at the back of his head.
"You know you can't trust him. You know how wrong this place is. Whenever he lays his eyes on you, I always worry that he's going to hurt you".
"I'm okay. I can take care of myself".
"Don't be so sure" he shot her a warning glance "Would you let them do whatever they want with you?".
Rose sighed, tired of that upsetting discussion "What would they do to me?".
Peter stopped pacing and just stared at the floor, his skin weirdly paler.
"Imagine how our offsprings would be" he whispered carefully, aware how blasphemous it sounded.
Rose stopped breathing. The memories of the previous nights haunted her. She was so willing to fall into temptation. She didn't even care of the possible consequences. Of that kind of consequences.
"That sounds disturbing" she murmured, hoping he was just teasing.
Peter shot her a glare that pinned her against the sink. He wasn't joking "After what you saw here, do you still think it's disturbing?".
He moved towards her and she felt close to react like she was in danger. But it was just him. Why would she fear him? Or his words?
"Would you agree to such a deal? You find me attractive, anyway. It wouldn't be forced" he said softly like a caress.
As his words sank, she felt so dizzy that she could vomit. The idea was revolting.
"This is insane. Why are you talking about it?".
"Because we need to think of a future. And we have no choice if we are stuck here" he said sternly, staring at her with such intense that made her sweat "Eventually someone will find out. Maybe that's already Brenner's plan. He would let us be together, until you will get pregnant and you will give him another child to play with".
Rose close her eyes and shook her head, incapable of accepting what he was suggesting.
"Peter, enough!" she exclaimed, not wanting to hear one more word on the topic.
"Don't blame me. I'm just opening your eyes" he touched her face and she opened her eyes.
"This is disgusting. I can't believe you speak to me like we are meant to mate and have children for this lab" she snatched his hand away from her, moving away from the sink before he could trap her there.
He grabbed her hand to stop her "They would do it. And that's not what I want. I care for you. I can't let them use us, turn you against me because I will be unable to protect you".
Rose breathed deeply. In and out. Repeat.
She trusted him. He had to be right. In that case she was so close to make happen what he suggested. And it was so very wrong.
Was it what stopped him the previous night? Because if she knew of that risk, she would avoid being that physical with him. Kissing and cuddling and all that stuff that wouldn't risk a child was enough.
Would her child have her skills? With Brenner's supervision, he could enhance, push the limits...
Rose recalled the medicines, the injections, the prohibitions, all the awful stuff she'd been through as a child. To become that prodigy child.
She rushed to the nearest toilet and vomited.
She could hear the muffled voices of her parents.
And in that moment she was glad they were dead.

She felt hands pushing her hair away from her face as she emptied her stomach.
Then she let the hands guide her back to the sink and she washed her mouth.
"Rose, I'm so sorry for making you so upset. But you needed to know" Peter said placing his hands on her shoulders as she caught her breath.
She looked up at the mirror in front of her and saw tears in his eyes.
She turned to look at him and hugged him "You're right. And I'm sorry. If I wasn't special, if I had no special skills...".
"No, no" he grabbed her face making her look up at him "You're perfect as you are. Those skills are part of you. Never, ever wish for them to be gone".
But if she was normal, wouldn't they be free to be together, wouldn't all the troubles be gone?
"I want to be normal. I want us to be free" she said exhausted.
"We will find a way. To be free" he promised pressing his lips on her forehead to mark his words on her brain.

A/N

Saturday 6th August 2022

Some more disturbing themes 👀
In the lab some kind of protections are not allowed, for whatever sick purposes the doctors want to achieve 🙈

It's not a topic I'm comfortable with, I really dislike how he was treated there, abused and tortured. How Brenner tried to control him and then started the project to "recreate" him thought the other subjects.

I want human rights to be respected for everyone. Everyone deserves to be respected and free and accepted as they are without trying to exploit his/her talents.

I wish also Peter/Henry can have his own happy ending, but that's up to the original writers. Soon my story will collide with the facts from the official timeline 🥺