Taylor got out of the car and just let her earbuds hang from her shirt, as she walked out and took a deep breath.
Taylor's nostrils filled with a hundred different scents as she was trying to catch the scent of the sewer. "Anything?" Clarice asked and Taylor growled at her, causing Clarice to step back.
Taylor's amber eyes darkened, before she was turning and walking to her left. Taylor's tail swung freely as she was swinging her head from side to side, trying to see if there was anybody around the sewer entrance.
Taylor pried open the grate and tossed it to the side, causing Clarice and John to back up as she dropped down into the sewer. "It fucking stinks down here." She remarked.
Taylor was looking around, before she quickly saw John disappearing into a wall and she tilted her head to the side. "Well, that is new." She said as she stuck her hand through the wall and yanked it back, finding the feeling weird. "Huh." Taylor said simply.
"Are you coming or what?" Taylor yelped in surprise at the sight of John's head and shoulders suddenly reappearing through the wall.
"Don't do that!" Taylor growled, before she was walking through the wall.
"I thought that you weren't going to be talking to..." Taylor punched him and John coughed, backing up as she had hit him square in the stomach and she had knocked the wind out of him.
"Let's just get this stuff over with." Taylor replied angrily and John nodded, coughing as he got his wind back and Clarice followed them through the wall.
"Did you really have to hit him?" Clarice asked.
"Absolutely." Taylor replied.
"Look, I know that you probably hate me right now and I know, that I can't blame you for it. But you should consider forgiving John, at least." Clarice said and Taylor glanced over at her, and the three of them continued to walk through the tunnels.
"I don't hate you, Clarice." Taylor said simply and Clarice's eyes widened slightly at the words. "It takes two people, to do what you guys did. I don't hate either of you, I really just don't particularly like either of you at the moment." She explained.
"I thought that you weren't talking to us just because you hated us both for, what we're doing." Clarice admitted and Taylor glanced up ahead at John, who was studying the walls.
"Do you remember after you got sick, you asked me what my anchor was? When you were relearning how to use your powers before Sonya put that memory into your head?" Taylor questioned and Clarice was nodding.
"Well, John is that person for me." Taylor admitted and Clarice looked stunned. "It is painful enough for me to be in the same building as him now, but I also can't leave. So, I decided that being deliberate and just ignoring it, was my best chance. Ignoring both of you and not speaking unless I had to." She admitted.
"I'm sorry, Taylor. I am sorry that I helped do this to you." Clarice murmured and Taylor glanced at her.
"Thank you." Taylor replied quietly to her words, before John punched a wall out of sheer, angry frustration and then the entire area was shaking around them. "Hey, take it easy!" Taylor said with a growl.
"We really should have found someone by now." John said and it was like, he had not even heard Taylor's words.
"Well, maybe Erg moved to the sub-Ergs."
Taylor stifled a laugh, before she saw the annoyed look on John's face as she growled quietly. "Taylor, are you getting anything? Your hearing? Your sense of smell? Are you getting anything?" John asked and Taylor was resting her hand against the wall, as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I can smell people... Other mutants down here with us. But..." Taylor tilted her head as she growled with annoyance. "Nope, I can't give you an exact location." She said and she opened her eyes again.
"Rough estimate?" Clarice asked and Taylor glanced at her, before Taylor was looking around the area and she was pointing directly ahead. "Then I have an idea." Clarice said and she peeled out her contacts, before she was forming a portal.
They jumped through it, all three of them and they were greeted by guns and mutants holding them. Taylor growled loudly, but one of the shotguns was pressed against her temple and her tail was whipping angrily back and forth, but she wasn't moving.
"You are coming with us." One of them said and Taylor glanced at Clarice and John, who shook his head slowly and Taylor grumbled, before she nodded.
"Can't you just do something about them? Aren't you bulletproof?" Clarice asked quietly.
"Yeah, but there are five of them... and you're not bulletproof." Clarice looked around John at the deadpan tone, looking at Taylor who was shaking her head.
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right on this one. I have a strong, fast healing factor but... I don't really have enough space for a shift here." Taylor muttered quietly.
"I hear that we have visitors. Why are you here?" Erg asked.
"Evangeline Whedon sent us. She worked with the X-Men and the Mutant Underground." John explained.
"I'm familiar with it. You have a former member of my people standing with you, right now." Erg said and John turned around to look at Taylor, who stepped forward silently.
"Hello Erg." Taylor replied to the silent greeting. "We need your help. The mutant underground, the mutants aboveground. We need your help but the question is, are you willing to help us?" She asked.
"Let's talk. Her and Roar, not you." Erg said and John stared at Taylor, who glanced at him.
"It's just because you don't have a mutant mark, Thunderbird." Taylor said and when John tried to get past her, she hit him again.
John staggered back and Taylor glanced at Clarice, who looked impressed as they were walking over to Erg and disappearing into the shadows.
"So what is it you want, exactly?"
"Four of our friends were taken by a group called the Inner Circle. Three of them were just kids and we need to know what they're doing. We heard that you might know something." Clarice explained.
"You know, normally, I would just dump the three of you on the surface and hide that entrance to the tunnels. But, seeing as Roar has returned to DC... I could use someone like you, as well." Erg said to Clarice as Taylor was leaning against the wall.
"Follow me." Erg said and he was looking over at Taylor. "Unless you wished to lead us, if you remember the way." He said and she was looking at him, right before Taylor pushed off of the wall.
Taylor led the way as she smiled, almost feeling stronger, every time she got closer to the place that had been her home for almost three years after 7/15. "Mara." She said and the mutant turned around to look at her and she was beaming, before she gave her a hug.
"Hey." Taylor murmured and she was returning the hug. "I missed you." She murmured quietly.
They were back in the vehicle after Taylor had confidently led them both back to John, who was shaking his head. "That's where you were after 7/15? For three years?" John asked.
"Until I joined the Mutant Underground Network and started helping Evangeline? Yes." Taylor replied as she put her earbuds in again. "Wake me up when it's time to get out of the car." She said and she leaned her head against the window.
YOU ARE READING
¹ Roar || The Gifted: John Proudstar
Fanfiction"I never thought that I'd see the day, when we would ever hear you roar again." ~~~~~ It had been years since they had seen each other. One enlisted in the military, the other became a licensed therapist. When one fell into a dark hole that seemed t...
