Runaways: Book II

XVI

When I was little my grandmother used to tell me the same thing over and over.
"Mutants are dangerous. They're freaks."
And in the back of my mind I guess I really believed her, because that is all I had ever really viewed myself as. I was conditioned to be scared. And when you're conditioned to be scared fear becomes this comfortable thing you just retreat into and push people away with.
Which is why the second it was destroyed everything was so unfamiliar. My hands were solid rock. Steady.
When I looked into Peter's eyes, in the middle of all the destruction, everything became different. There wasn't any resistance now when his cooling, calm energy flowed into my chest. It was simply open gates.
And it felt fucking good.
Peter took my hand and stared at me curiously, noticing something was different,
"Are you...feeling okay? Should we just find a way out?"
There had only been one other time in my life when I was completely sure about something, and that was beneath the vibrant green treetops, bathed in sunlight, when I told Peter I loved him. But now, I stated with the same unrelenting confidence,
"No. No, we're not leaving without Bo."
I strode over to the blocking debris and blasted it away with a controlled surge of energy from my hand. I looked back at Peter, who stood amazed.
"You coming?" I asked.
He smiled, stuttered a bit and replied, "Y-yeah. Okay."
He flashed over in front of me and peered down at me with his familiar grin, the grin that was my home.
"Mutant and proud?" he questioned.
His gaze was deep, a window to a beautiful universe—a universe I had gone much too long without.
"Mutant and Proud," I confirmed.
New power seemed to flow from my fingertips as I cleared a path to the next compound, the energy easily moving metal and stone away like cardboard. Peter watched admiringly and followed closely behind, utterly smitten.
We arrived at the abiding compound and injured mutants were trapped behind bars on top and lower levels.
"Do you know if security is headed our way?" Peter question.
"I dunno. I don't sense any of that type of energy." I answered.
A rugged, tired voice abruptly spoke out,
"They left. They evacuated after some explosion, left us here to die."
I turned and saw a bruised woman sitting in the corner of an electrified cell. I peered at her through the bars and saw her purple glowing eyes and a deep gash on the side of her forehead.
"No," I stated before finding the control panel to all of the electrified cells. I switched off the current and a prominent buzzing ceased, before adding,
"They left us here to escape."
Peter flashed to the upper level and began unlocking cells as I went along the lower level rows and blasted off the restricting metal. As more and more people were freed they ran toward other parts of the building, searching for loved ones they had arrived with and breaking more locks.
Then I found him.
On the floor of the darkest cell, his eyes were closed as he lied in the dirt and wrapped his arms around himself. He was thin, fragile.
"B...Bo?" I asked the apparition in the cell.
His eyes difficultly lifted open and he was silent for a fraction of a moment before springing out into laughter. Tears glimmered down the sides of his face, bending around his laugh lines.
He managed to pull himself upwards and advanced toward me, stepping into the light. But what I saw next sent a massive chill that froze my spine into solid ice.
The light uncovered not only Bo's terribly worn, familiar face, but two bleeding wounds from where his ears had once been.
Bo's ability was super sonic hearing, and I later discovered that they had performed dozens of tests on his ears until they become so damaged that they were simply amputated off.
Bo was left permanently deaf.
"Peter!" I screamed as I stood horrified.
He instantaneously appeared next to me and saw.
"Oh my god."
I couldn't think of anything to do. I only stepped toward Bo, gingerly wrapped my arms around him, and wept.
But it didn't last long. He lifted my head up with his weak hand and smiled reassuringly, signing something to me.
"I don't understand..." I said softly.
He plainly took three of my fingers and held them to his chest. Right then he could only communicate one way. With his energy.
Weirdly, his energy was quite the opposite of his appearance. It was strong, unrelenting. There was a certain peace about him that spoke for him, reassuring me as he always does,
"Don't worry. Everything is okay now."
I looked into Bo's eyes and nodded understandingly.
And that's when I learned everything was and would be okay.