Crimson Strength - The Gifted [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 6

A/N - Dana's outfit for the chapter :)

Water. One of the many things that sustains all life and the girl in front of me was able to harness it. Lorna sits on the couch beside me, watching the girl intently. However, my attention is divided. I look down at Danni as she lays in the wrap that is strapped across my chest. Her beautiful blue-grey eyes shine as she plays with the ends of my hair that aren't braided. Returning my attention to the girl in front of us, I see her crash a ball of water into the vase in front of her, breaking it in seconds.

"Have you ever trained with your powers before?" I ask blankly to which the girl responds with the shake of her head.

"Well, you're training now," Lorna says. "Go downstairs and they'll get you some clothes."

The girl nods curtly towards the both of us, obviously excited to train. As she begins to walk away, Caitlin suddenly jumps in.

"Uh, excuse me, your planning to train these kids for what exactly?" 

"Combat. They're being hunted down, Caitlin." I answer.

"Plus it seemed more relevant than knitting," Lorna adds with a smirk before walking away. 

I chuckle at her comment but Caitlin did not think it was funny in the slightest. Frustration seemed to radiate off of her. Before she could get another word in, I felt a hand gently graze my lower back and the familiar sense of electricity fill me. 

"I'm sorry to interrupt but can I borrow my girlfriend from you?" I hear John say from behind me. 

"Of course," Caitlin says with a polite smile before leaving us alone.

"Thank you." I sigh while turning around.

"It's no problem. I could see how tense you were getting." John says while looking down at Dannielle. "She looks wide awake today doesn't she?" 

"Yeah, it's kinda odd," I answer.

"She's just probably getting used to all the changes. Anyways, I'm calling a meeting and I need you there."

"I'll be there," I go to walk away but I look back at him. "Look, thank you for rescuing me from Caitlin. But please don't call me your girlfriend anymore."  

With tears threatening to spill over, I walk away and my though wander to Danni. He's probably right but something just seems off about her. She was a normal baby up until she was taken away and now it feels like something has changed.  Gently laying her in her crib within John's office, I walk over to where our team stands. 

The gist was that our best chance of learning more about the mutant program was in a government building in Baton Rouge. The more we learn about the program, the better chance we have to fight against it. Reed knew the building, so he volunteered to go on the mission alongside Marcos and his son Andy. 

After our meeting, I helped Andy and Lauren hand out more supplies. A few hours passed and as I handed some dehydrated food to another family, I catch a glimpse of John layering large concrete bricks outside our entrance. Quickly handing off my supplies to Andy and Lauren, I walk out to him. With the red glow around my hands, I pick up one of the concrete blocks and lay it on the next one.

"Everything okay?" he asks, concern laid in his eyes.

"Yeah, are you?" I reply.

"I'm fine," he says blankly. But I can tell it's a lie by the way he instantly looked away and continued what he was doing. 

"John, just because I haven't seen you in almost a year, doesn't mean I forgot what you do when you lie. I'm sorry if I was too harsh back there." 

John sighs and stacks another block up before stopping and turning to me.

"What if the X-Men made a mistake?"

"What do you mean?" 

"I left Pulse there to die, Dana. What kind of leader does that?" 

"We all thought he was dead, John. That isn't your fault."

"I still abandoned him, Dana..." John mutters. 

"Look, I wish I had the time to hug you and say it's all going to be alright. But I don't. The X-Men said a war is coming, John! And they chose us for that very reason." I say. 

"Yeah, well they didn't say mutant would win," he replies one final time while slamming the last concrete block down on top of another before storming away. Sighing hard, I throw my hand at the blocks, sending them toppling over.

"That could've gone better."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious..." I turn and look at Lorna, her shirt showing the outline of her bump. 

"Wanna come help with training?"

"Always,"

Lorna nods at me slowly, giving me one last look over before walking back inside. Before I walk away, I hold my hand out and put the blocks back in their place. As I step back inside, it feels like ants are crawling around in my head. Someone was a telepath here, they are trying to get in my head. 

Little do they know I have some mind tricks of my own...