☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎

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  SHE DIDN'T OPEN HER eyes at first. As she slowly began to wake, Olivia could hear the frantic shuffling of feet and the familiar beeping of heart monitors. She could smell the scent of sterilized medical equipment and freshly cleaned sheets. Slowly, she opened her eyes. The bright lab lights hurt her tender irises as she blinked rapidly. Olivia turned to look to the side and immediately her head started throbbing. She slapped a hand to her forehead as she groaned.

In the distance, equipment clanged as footsteps rushed to her. Wide-eyed, Hank came into view. "Oh my god, you're awake!" He cheered. He was careful about hugging her. "How are you feeling?" He grabbed a rolling stool and sat next to her.

She reached out to grab his hand and grasped it tightly. "Like shit," She sighed and looked around. "What happened?" As she examined the lab, she noticed the IV sticking out of her arm, but instead of being connected to a drip, it was attached to a strange machine. "...what the-"

"An electricity stabilizer," Hank interjected. She tilted her head, confused. "Olivia...I'm going to be honest with you," He took a long pause. "You were dying. In a last-minute attempt to save yourself you expelled literally every ounce of electricity your body had —every last drop of it. Without electricity in your body, you wouldn't have survived long," He was shaking. Olivia tightened her grip on his hand. "I managed to make a makeshift stabilizer out of Ororo to get you safely back and then when she couldn't be here any longer, I made this."

Olivia was shocked, to say the least. "Wow..." She sighed deeply. "How long have I been out?"

"About twelve hours, give or take,"

"Twelve?!" Olivia gasped, quickly moving to get up, but as the room spun, she decided it was best to stay lying down. "Ugh...did you guys catch the mutants that did this?" Hank didn't respond. "Do you know who they were? They kept talking about their boss and getting paid, so someone definitely wanted me. Would you know why?" Again, silence. Hank stared blankly at their hands. "Hello? Earth to Hank?" She jerked her hand from his and snapped her fingers, regaining his attention.

"S-Sorry," He gulped, not completely making eye contact with her.

"Hank, what's wrong?" She knitted her eyebrows in concern.

The scientist stiffened as he gulped. "We weren't able to capture the mutants that did this," His voice was tight.

Olivia's head sunk. "They got away before you could grab them, huh?" She watched as Hank shook his head. "No?"

"No," Hank huffed. "Because there were no mutants left to catch. When we found you, there were three piles of ash next to you. I did a few tests and..." He gulped. "Determined they were the mutants who attacked you."

Olivia's stomach dropped and her throat dried. "You're saying I...kill them?"

Hank nodded slowly. "The energy completely vaporized their bodies,"

Olivia felt numb — so many thoughts and emotions ran through her head she could barely focus. Her hands grasped the blankets of the medical bed so tight her knuckles began to whiten. All she could hear was buzzing and her eyesight blurred. She could see movement around her but hear no voices.

A sudden prick snapped her out of her hypnosis. Gasping for air, she looked around frantically — the lights of the lab sparked and flickered, then slowly came back on. Jean and Peter were now standing in front of her, both equally concerned. The lab doors hissed open and Charles, Scott, Ororo, Raven, and Kurt rushed in. Olivia gulped, her throat dry. "Sorry..." She apologized.

"It's okay," Hank watched her softly.

She sank into the bed and flopped the back of her head on her pillow. Tears welled in her as she stared up at the ceiling. "I'm a murderer," She seethed.

"You are not a murderer, Olivia!" Jean cried. "Don't say that," She crossed her arms in a way that resembled a cross mother.

"Then what do you call vaporizing four mutants into ash, Jean?" Olivia countered, raising her voice.

Hank placed a firm but tender hand on her shoulder. "Olivia...there were only three remains," She looked up at him, confused. Suddenly, it dawned on Hank. "There was a fourth," He said, stumbling back in shock.

"Yeah..." She gulped once more. "There were only three piles found?" Hank nodded. Then, the truth dawned on Olivia. "What does that mean, if one got away?"

"That depends," Charles interjected. "Which one was it?"

Olivia shuddered just thinking about him. "His name was Remy. He could convert the kinetic energy in inanimate objects," She tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck where her deep cut had been covered in gauze and bandages. "He did this."

Everyone's faces visibly paled. Hank started muttering to himself as he scurried off, Charles was quick to follow him. Peter and Jean came up on her left while Scott, Ororo, and Kurt hung out by the foot of her bed. Jean reached out to hold Olivia's hand. "These guys were hired to collect you," She stated sadly. "It was a setup. There were no hostages," She shook her head lightly. "One second we were standing next to you and the next, we could hear your screams — it was horrifying."

Olivia gave Jean's hand a gentle squeeze. "I think the mutant that could see into the future also had some form of telepathic abilities. I was asking Hank a question and suddenly you guys were frozen. She manipulated Peter's powers to run you away from me," Speaking of, she looked over at the silver-haired mutant, who was staring at her cut. "Peter?" She snapped him out of his state as his eyes quickly shot to hers. "I'm alright."

Jean and the others took this as their cue to leave. Peter took the stool that Hank had been sitting at and slumped his shoulders. "Now, maybe. But you still got hurt and I wasn't there to protect you,"

Olivia smiled sadly and tentatively reached out to take his hand. She softly intertwined their fingers, causing both of them to blush. Ignoring her flustered state, she kept his eyes on hers. "You don't need to always protect me, Peter," She told him softly. "I'm a big girl. Twenty-one. I can handle myself if need be."

Peter grumbled and rolled his eyes. "I know..." He looked down at their intertwined hands and huffed. "It's just...when I saw you lying there, practically dead, I felt something I-"

"Turn on the television!" Kurt poofed in, frantic.

"What? Why?" Peter stood up, clearly annoyed.

"Just do it! Olivia needs to see," Kurt exclaimed. In a flash, Peter returned with the remote and a tv dropped down from the ceiling of the lab. Kurt adjusted it so Olivia could see and turned it on.

The first channel on was Channel 8 — their local news channel. A reporter was center-screen, explaining what was going on in the world. "We are here reporting live at the home of billionaire Maxwell Peters with a shocking announcement..."

Olivia shook her head in disbelief. As the camera panned, all functions in her body seemed to shut down as they zoomed into her old home. Right on the front porch, surrounded by news outlets and reporters, stood her parents. It was her first time seeing them in ten years. Her father, Maxwell, cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Ladies and gentlemen, I called you all here for shocking and devastating news. As many of you know, our sweet little girl, Olivia, was sadly kidnapped on her eleventh birthday,"

Immediately, Olivia's anger flared. Shakily sitting up from her bed, she watched her father carefully. "But it is with great pleasure that I can say we have located her after these long ten years. However, it is with great pain that I say she is no longer the girl we loved so dearly. She was kidnapped by Charles Xavier's mutants and is being forced to be their slave as an example of what mutants do to our kind,"

"Bullshit!" Olivia jumped from her seat only to stumble and just barely be caught by Peter.

"Woah, slow down," He cooed as he moved to sit her back down.

Olivia wasn't having it. "No!" She ripped herself from his arms, in the process tearing the electric IV from her arm. She couldn't care less — she was angry, infuriated. "He's lying! They gave me away! They abandoned me!" She screamed. The lights flickered for a moment.

Peter was at her side in an instant. "Olivia. I'm telling you to slow down, and that's something coming from me," He gave her a pleading look.

"Ugh," Olivia huffed. "Fine. I'm sorry," She allowed Peter to sit her back down and continue listening to the broadcast.

"They have tortured her pure and innocent soul so much that they forced her to kill!" Maxwell exclaimed. The crowd gasped. "I would like to invite Mr. Remy Lebeau up," Olivia's eyes widened as the man that had nearly killed her walked up beside her father, giving the best performance of his life — fake tears stained his cheeks, a few shudders here and there to make it seem real.

"Mr. Lebeau and his companions were attacked by the X-Men and by none other than the mind control by Charles Xavier himself, forced my dear Olivia to vaporize three helpless civilians," More gasps. "But not to worry! I am devising a special task force with the help of Mr. Lebeau to find my daughter, bring her home, and put the people responsible for this behind bars for the rest of their lives!"

The crowd cheered and as they cut to commercial, Kurt shut off the tv. Olivia stared blankly at the floor. "They're gonna take you. All of you," She looked up a Peter, eyes wide with fear. "Not just the X-Men, but the students! What are we gonna do? How are we-"

"Olivia!" Peter's voice stopped her in her tracks. He grabbed both of her hands, forcing her to look at him. "We will get through this, okay?"

"Why?" Olivia mumbled. "Because we're X-men?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Peter shook his head with a small chuckle. Softly, he pulled her to her feet. "That's exactly why. We are gonna make them sorry for ever messing with us!"

AUTHORS NOTE
a little shorter than I wanted but I got what I needed to into this chapter. I didn't really wanna put two big plot points into one so this is what you get! Enjoy!!