End of Hope

Chapter 4

by Skytower

Sue guided the Kree spaceship Heroes Ark into its dry-dock cradle on the left of the control building and set it down gently. The ships systems seemed to sigh in relief as she started to put them into a stand-by mode. Sue knew how they felt. Her body ached, and while she had survived the jungle fever, Sue had not recovered from it yet. She'd hoped to have at least two more days in space, but listening to the radio chatter and looking at the information relayed by the Kree spy satellites had convinced her it would be safer to return quickly. The death of the Red Skull had touched off a major war between Baron Zemo and many of the European powers for the Red Skull's African kingdom. Because of that the Sentinels attention was focused in Africa. A perfect time for a small ship to slip into Antarctica unnoticed.

"Are we there yet?" Ben's voice sounded on the intercom.

"We're down and safe." Sue said as she finished with the last of the power down procedures. Vents opened and the stale air of the ship started to smell cleaner as the sterile air of the Kree base replaced it. Un-strapping herself she got out of the pilot's chair and walked back to the small bunkrooms. One on either side of the passageway they had been converted to small hospitals. Ben, May and Mystique had been the only ones who were immune to the fever. The responsibility for keeping them all alive had fallen to them. It had proven too much for the broken spirited Mystique. She lay asleep on her bunk, covered from head to neck with Ben's webbing to stop her from committing suicide. Even in sleep Mystique looked like she was in pain. Her yellow eyes were closed, but her face tight and her red hair was streaked with white. Jan and Rebecca also slept, also webbed up, but only by their arms and legs. Mary Jane was awake and May was cutting away at the webbing that held her.

"Space isn't as much fun as Star Trek used to make it out to be." Mary Jane said. She was still pale but starting to look better.

"We just have to go find someplace that is." Sue said. "I'm going to go to the control tower and make sure the base is secure. Can you get everyone here into the main building and into beds?"

"I don't think we'll have a problem." Mary Jane said. "Ben found an anti-grav platform stored near the cargo bay while we were all sick."

"Ok then. Keep Mystique webbed up."

"Why?"

"She tried to kill herself." Sue said. "I'm not sure how stable she is without Namorita awake to keep her in line."

"Oh." Mary Jane stood up, tottered a bit, but steadied herself. "Alright. I'll put them in the same room."

"Good idea."

Mary Jane was sitting down to eat when Sue found her in the dining room. She had changed out of the ship jumpsuit and into a blue flannel nightgown. What was left of a large pizza, with so many toppings Sue was surprised Mary Jane could lift it was on the table in front of her.

"I was hungry." Mary Jane said.

"Me too." Sue said. She walked into the kitchen and started to operate the food unit.

"You can have some if you want." Mary Jane said.

"I don't think I could handle tearing into a pizza right now." Sue said. She walked back in with a cup of soup and sat down. "Is everyone settled?"

"Yes." Mary Jane gave a little laugh. "In all my life Sue I never expected to be putting Dr. Doom to bed."

"I'm sure he never expected it either." Sue said smiling. "At least we have the room."

Mary Jane nodded.

"I put Mystique in with Namorita and Ben webbed her up. God Sue, that's so strange to see. Peter used webbing he made up in bottles and kept in little cartridges on his wrist. Ben just sort of..." she made a movement with her wrist. "Shoots. And his toes! I don't know what I'll do when May starts doing that stuff."

"She may not." Sue said. "Mutations are variable, and she seems to have picked up a power Peter never had."

"The healing touch." Mary Jane said. "Some times I wonder how I'm going to cope... on any world. How did you do it?"

"I had Reed. And Ben. And Johny." Sue said pausing between the names. She fell silent and stared down at her soup. "And Franklin was 15 when the Sentinels attacked, just beginning to cope with his own powers."

"I'm sorry." Mary Jane said. "I didn't realize."

"Don't worry Mary Jane." Sue said. "It's all in the past."

"No it isn't." Mary Jane said.

"What?"

"I was taking care of you before I got the fever myself." Mary Jane said. "You talked a lot Sue. I shouldn't have listened, but I didn't have a choice."

"Fever's can make you say anything." Sue said, putting her cup down.

"I know. But it was more than that. You can say all you want that you don't care anymore, that you're not mad, but you are. I can't tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep without Peter, but you've never done that have you."

"The tears are all gone Mary Jane." Sue said. She stood up and walked into the kitchen. Mary Jane got up and followed her. "And crying was a good way to wake up Jan."

"For 13 years the only person you've had in your live that you care about is Jan." Mary Jane said, putting her hand on Sue's shoulder. "And now she sleeps with May. I know it bothers you Sue."

"We weren't lovers Mary Jane." Sue said. "Besides May needed her more than I did." She washed the cup and put it away. She started to move but Mary Jane stood in front of her.

"Sue you've bottled it all up and it's killing you. You must know that. You can't hold on to all of the grief and the hate... not forever."

"I don't hold on to anything Mary Jane." Sue said pushing past her. "It's not there."

"It is." Mary Jane insisted following her. "And I'd like to help. I owe you everything Sue, me, the kids, Jarvis."

Sue turned and faced her so suddenly that Mary Jane took a step back.

"I appreciate what you think you're trying to do Mary Jane, really I do. But there's no need. My hate and my grief died in the camp. They had to because there's no way I could have held onto them and survived."

Sue picked up a piece of Mary Jane's pizza and carefully took a bite of it. She chewed, wincing as her bad teeth encountered resistance.

"Sometimes I don't know what kept me going." Sue said taking a step back and sitting down. "I think it was Jan really, she needed me. I was always called the den mother of the superhero set you know. That's why I don't mind her with May, I knew that it was time Jan helped someone else survive by being their child. Jan right now is the best doll May will ever have."

"They love playing with each other." Mary Jane admitted. "I've seen May stuffing Jan into hideous looking doll clothes while Jan is saying no, but laughing... they both love it, but Sue; tell me you don't wake up some nights and realized you are hugging a pillow? Crying into it? Yelling into it so no one will hear you?"

"I don't." Sue said firmly.

Mary Jane stood up.

"Well if you ever do, you know where my room is."

"I do." Sue stood up as well. "And thanks, but really I'm ok. Or as ok as any of us can be."

I do appreciate it Mary Jane. Sue thought as they walked toward their rooms. And if you didn't have three kids already hitting your bed every other night I might even take you up on it. But you're their mother, not mine. I deal with what I have to deal with myself.

The next day Sue woke up to the feeling that someone was in the room. The Kree ray gun was in her hand and a force field around her almost before she woke up.

"Don't shoot!" Rebecca shouted ducking.

For an instant Sue didn't remember anything, then it came back to her. She lowered the gun.

"Knock first next time." Sue said.

"Sorry." Rebecca said. She was wearing a pair of cut off jeans and a grey T-shirt. "Mary Jane said to get you, the base computer isn't working."

"I know." Sue said getting up. She stretched, feeling every joint in her body protest. "Tell Mary Jane it's ok, I changed the security codes last night."

"Why?"

"Doom, Fury, Namorita, Mystique." Sue said. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

"You don't trust them?"

"Nope."

"But they helped us in space, and all that we said..."

"Still don't trust them." Sue said. She rinsed her mouth out, wincing at the pain from her teeth and raised the temperature of the water a little.

"Why not?"

You need to ask? Sue wondered. Two former supervillains, one master spy who lived in the shadows before the Day and Namorita who is so closely related to Namor they might just as well be clones.

"Because I don't." Sue said. "I'll be down in 15 minutes and I'll explain then to everyone."

"Well... ok." Rebecca backed off as Sue took of her nightgown. It wasn't done by accident; Sue had learned that no one wanted to see her body anymore. "We'll talk then?"

"I promise." Sue said stepping into the shower. Rebecca left quickly.

Hustler once offered me five million to pose nude. Sue thought as she tried to use the water to bring her mind back to life. It was like that sometimes after a quick wake up. You could be awake, but still not capable of long range thought. Sue thought of it as; "Instinct awake" and it had saved her and Jan many times. But there was always a price. The hot water on her body helped, but the memories did not. Not even full nude, just a topless shot. Reed, Ben and Johny... God they just didn't know how to react! Sue laughed and the laughed turned to cry. I turned them down, and in the camp the guards would take pictures just for fun. I should have taken the five million and retired. Sue ran her hands over her body. I'm not that ugly am I? My breasts were never heavy enough to sag, my hips are ok... but the scars... God what I thinking?

Resolutely Sue shook off the thoughts as she dressed. That was the tradeoff for waking up instantly, the memories and dreams stayed with you, making your mood match them.

Tighten it up Sue, we're not safe yet and this won't be easy.

Everyone was eating when Sue walked into the dining room. Her first surprise was Victor and Nick. Not only had they shaved but each mans' hair had been cut. Fury looked his age with deep lines etched into his face and only his square jaw had survived the years intact. Sue wasn't sure how old Nick was, and vaguely remembered an experimental treatment to keep Nick young. Victor looked better, but even his face showed the strain of long torment. Still his face was more distinguished than old. Both of them wore the shapeless blue jumpsuits of Kree mechanics.

"You're looking well." Sue said as she sat down.

"Jarvis was kind enough to attend to us." Victor said.

"I was once a prisoner." Jarvis said. He placed a bowl of soup and a cup of hot chocolate in front of Sue. Jarvis wore a well pressed pair of pants, a shirt and an apron. "I know that appearance is more than just vanity after a years of its denial."

"When were you a prisoner?" Ben asked.

"The Grim Reaper held Jarvis hostage for a few months once." Sue said.

"As you say Mrs. Richards, ancient history." Jarvis said.

Sue nodded as she took a drink from the hot chocolate. Everyone was awake and watching her. Jan was sitting next to May while Ben was sitting on the other side of Rebecca who was sitting next to Nick. Mary Jane was sitting next to Namorita and drawn close to Namorita, almost sitting in her lap was Mystique. Victor sat on the other side of them both. Jan and May were wearing identical clothes, matching yellow halter-tops with short white skirts and a green belt. Ben was just wearing plain jeans and a t-shirt. Namorita was wearing one of Mary Jane's gold sequined evening gowns, the only thing that would fit her taller, fuller frame. Mystique was naked and Sue could see Ben's eyes go to her every so often. Mary Jane, wearing a blue blouse and a pair of grey slacks, noticed it as well.

"Would you like some more sir?" Jarvis asked Victor.

"Please." Victor said handing Jarvis his plate. "I have spent many days dreaming of such food."

"Very good sir."

Sue marveled at the Englishman's manor. Not more than 2 days before he had been flying a ship into battle, the night before he was barely recovered from a fever, now he was serving food. Idly Sue wondered if Jarvis didn't think of both tasks and the fever as just another part of the job. In a way he was the most resilient of them all.

"Why'd you lock out the computer?" Namorita asked as Jarvis left.

"I don't trust any of you." Sue said calmly.

"What?" Rebecca looked up.

"Not you Rebecca." Sue said. "And actually I was really worried about you Namorita."

"Why?" Namorita asked coldly.

"Why did you want to use the system?" Sue asked.

"To contact Atlantis."

"And tell them you were ok." Sue said.

"Of course. Namor's probably thinking I'm dead."

"And once he learned you were alive he'd charge up here to make sure, bringing the Greys and the Sentinels with him." Sue said.

"He wouldn't do that." Namorita protested.

Sue said nothing and took a long drink from her soup.

"Look Sue I know you have problems with him, but Namor would not turn all of you over to the Sentinels."

"He would not have to directly." Victor spoke up. "I have no doubt that Atlantis is riddled with spies for all sides."

"He would have kept it a secret."

"Maybe." Sue said. She kept her voice calm but her hands trembled slightly. "Or he would have found it in the best interest of Atlantis to turn us all in, or lay claim to this base for the use of Atlantis. At the very least him charging toward Antarctica would have piqued someone's curiosity."

"You're not going to let me contact him are you?" Namorita said.

"Not until I know the hyperdrive on one of those ships is fixed and we can get away." Sue said. "After that... go ahead."

"How long will that be?" Namorita demanded hotly. "And what if they can't be fixed?"

"Anything that breaks can be fixed." Ben said. "I fix bikes all the time."

"A bike isn't a hyperdrive." Namorita said. "Look Sue, I know you want to hurt my brother..."

"This has nothing to do with hurting him." Sue said sharply. "It has to do with getting off of this planet in one piece. Even if I let you go to Atlantis what then? I checked the Sentinel communications last night before I went to bed. They knew you were in the Red Skull's palace. They are assuming everyone here blew up in the asteroid belt. The best place for us to hide is in death. If you show up in Atlantis they'll know that they were wrong. They'll start searching. They'll find us."

"So you're going to hold me here?" Namorita demanded. "I'm a prisoner again?"

"Oh come off it!" Sue said harshly. She was loosing her temper and knew it, but couldn't stop herself. "Are you in chains? Are we starving you? We pulled you out of that hell and you owe us for that! Like I said once we get the ships fixed you can go. Until then relax."

"You can't keep me here." Namorita said rising.

"Don't go there." Sue said standing up as well. "Don't you dare go there Namorita. I'm not the woman you knew 14 years ago. I don't have those limits anymore. If you go you put us in danger. You have a choice, either give us a little time to get out of here, you know us, the people who just rescued you and took care of you while you were sick, or selfishly put all of our lives in danger. Don't make the wrong choice."

Sue was trembling in sheer fury and suddenly realized that she did want to fight. The family resemblance to Namor was strong in Namorita and Sue wanted nothing more at that point than to smash out. Everyone was silently watching her, her not Namorita. Ben and May were confused, Rebecca scared and confused, Doom and Fury looked on impassively. Mystique looked desperately for any place to hide.

"Hold on." Mary Jane said. She stood up and put her hand on Namorita's shoulder. "Sue, Namorita, sit down."

Slowly both women sat back down.

"A prisoner is a prisoner." Namorita said.

"Right." Mary Jane said. "And we've all been one. Sue just wants to make sure none of us are again. Victor how long will it take to fix the hyperdrive?"

"At the moment I do not know." Victor said. He talked calmly, as if the tension between the two women did not exist. "I have not studied Kree technology for sometime, I will need to refresh myself with the engineering specifications and theories."

"How long will that take?" Mary Jane asked. "Give me a rough estimate."

"A week, maybe two to determine if I can fix them."

"Ok." Mary Jane said. "So Namorita stays with us for two weeks, then if Victor only needs a few days or another week I think you can give us that Namorita. It's not so long really."

"Two weeks." Namorita said. "Alright. Two weeks. At least your reasons are more honorable than the Skull's." She added bitterly.

Everyone but Sue let out a sigh of relief.

"Why was the Red Skull holding you anyway?" Ben asked. "How come you weren't tortured?"

"Ben." Mary Jane said sharply as Namorita looked down.

"I was tortured." She said.

"There are many ways to inflict torment." Victor said. "In Namorita's case the pain was always psychological. The Skull enjoyed casting her in the role as an overseer, constantly charging her to protect us from him and constantly finding ways for her to fail."

"Why?" Ben asked, earning him a sharp look from his mother.

"Because as long as the Red Skull had Namorita Atlantis had to go on smuggling narcotics to Europe and America." Sue said. "It took me a while to figure it all out, but before I shut down the system last night I read a radio report from the Skull's castle to the Greys. I wanted to be sure they weren't coming after us. The Grey troops, just before they were driven out of the place by Baron Zemo's men, found the narcotics operation and a small squad of Atlantean soldiers who were searching for Namorita. The Skull would make the narcotics, ship them to the ocean through an underground river built by Atlantean tunnellers and then Namor would see to it that they got safely into American and European ports."

"It was a very profitable operation." Nick said. "That's how he was able to buy a lot of SHIELD agents. He had some bright guys working for him, they cooked up L'Dusty, The Mort and Crisis."

Mary Jane's sudden intake of breath at the last word got their attention.

"Crisis came from him?" She asked.

"Who do you think he tested it on?" Nick asked taking another bite of his pancakes."

"What's Crisis?" May asked.

"A drug that induces fear and pleasure at the same time." Sue said. "Very addictive. Nine times out of ten, deadly."

"People take that on purpose?" May asked.

"To some people the joy of life is not enough." Sue said and the irony in her voice was not lost on any of them.

"So he is looking for me." Namorita said. "It wasn't any fun for me the past six years Sue. I had to watch while he tortured Victor and Nick and Mystique."

"No one is saying it hasn't been hard for you." Mary Jane said.

"She is." Namorita said looking at Sue.

"No I'm not." Sue said calmly. "You had to watch 3 people being tortured Namorita. I had to watch far worse."

"Ok so no one's had any fun for a while." Mary Jane said. "Like you said Sue it's over. Let's concentrate on the future ok?"

"Your right." Sue said. She put the cup down and stood up. "In that case I'll go and release the base computer."

Sue was in the control room when Mary Jane walked in with a tray with two cups of steaming hot chocolate.

"Thanks." Sue said sitting back and relaxing as Kree script floated across the display. "You think I was too hard on her don't you."

"Yep." Mary Jane said. "You going to tell me why?"

"Do you know what a sleeper personality is?"

"No."

Sue took another sip from the hot chocolate and relaxed for a moment as the warmth spread through her body.

"It was a favorite ploy of Dr. Faustus. He would take a captive, hypnotize them, implant a second personality and then let them go. That other person was always there, just bellow the surface until it decided the time was right for betrayal. It happened to me once, and my alternate personality nearly killed my family."

"You?" Mary Jane asked.

"Me." Sue nodded. "And Dr. Faustus was known to be closely allied with the Skull a couple of times."

"You think Namorita has one of these things in her?" Mary Jane asked sipping her own drink.

"No, I think Nick does." Sue said. "Or at least he and Mystique are the two most likely. Aside from Dr. Faustus the White Queen has influenced them both, who knows what's in their heads."

"So by acting all mad at Namorita you let them think the coast is clear."

"Right." Sue said. "That and I knew she'd try to contact Namor the first chance she got, and not think about the consequences. I've put in safeguards on the computer here and in the ships. If they try to signal out we'll know."

For a few minutes they sat quietly and sipped their drinks. Then Mary Jane spoke.

"That wasn't all of it though."

"What do you mean?"

"You wanted to tear her apart Sue. And don't tell me I'm wrong."

"You aren't wrong." Sue said after a long sigh. "I look at her and I see her brother. And Franklin. Franklin..." Sue almost dropped the cup, but steadied herself enough to put it on the console. Then she leaned forward, folding her arms on the console and placing her head against them. Her body seemed to sag under a great weight and her voice was muffled but full of pain. "The Greys showed me the recording of Namor turning Franklin over to them. I hoped it was a fake at first, but I knew it wasn't. Franklin tried to escape and Namor stopped him."

Sue sat up and wiped away the tears that running down her face. More tears replaced them. "They used to taunt me, telling me he was dead, he was alive, that they had brainwashed him to come over to their side... they'd show me fingers and arms and legs, and once even genitals... and say they were his..."

Mary Jane hugged her but Sue pulled away from her and got to her feet.

"Namor..." Sue started and then stopped. With an effort that barely succeeded Sue pulled herself together.

"So yea I was a little hard on her." Sue said roughly. "And yes, maybe there is a part of me that hopes Namor is having some sleepless nights."

"So will you let her leave?" Mary Jane asked.

"I don't know." Sue said. "I could take her of course, I know how to fight Atlanteans, but I don't want to."

"But you will." Mary Jane said.

"To keep us all safe, yes." Sue said. She walked back over and sat down, once more in control. "But if I think I can trust her I will let her go."

"How will we know?" Mary Jane asked.

"I have no idea." Sue said, taking a long drink from her cup. "The fact that she already tried to contact him shows me that Namorita really doesn't know what is going on in the world. She's been the Skull's prisoner for a long time, so maybe she doesn't. I'll let her look at what we've looked at, maybe then she'll get the idea and I'll be able to trust her."

"And if not?"

Sue put her cup back on the tray.

"Mary Jane... in space, when we were all sick, Ben and May took care of us, took care of the ship and I'm pretty sure stopped Mystique from killing herself." Sue took hold of Mary Jane's hands. "Then they helped me blow up an asteroid. I never saw them cry or complain... You can be so proud of them... I swore I'd blow up a planet if I had to before I'd let the Sentinels get either of them."

"I am proud of them." Mary Jane said.

"Right." Sue replied. She pulled back and entered a new sequence into the computer. "So if keeping them safe means I have to chain Namorita to a wall for a while, then that is what I will do."

"And the others?"

"I'm the Invisible Woman. I'll watch them."

The pale look on Namorita's face that afternoon told Sue that she had been right. Namorita had no idea what had been going on in the United States and the rest of the world.

"How could all that happen so quickly?" she asked.

"Civilization is always perched upon the edge of a cliff." Victor said. "A push is all that is needed."

"And I know who did part of the pushing." Nick said bitterly.

They were all in the control room, Victor, Namorita, Nick, Mystique and Sue. Mary Jane and Sue had decided that all of the former captives needed updating. Sue had cleared enough of the drawings away and arranged the chairs in front of the largest monitor, then she had replayed news reports and Grey and Sentinel messages. It took only four hours to document the downfall of the United States Government, the conquest of Canada, Mexico and all of South America. She hadn't pulled any punches in explaining what the Greys and Sentinels had done to mutants, mutant sympathizers or anyone else they hadn't liked. It had stunned even Fury, who had seen the start of it all.

"That is where things stood almost a year ago." Sue said pointing to a multicolored map of the American continent. "Just before my son and those who were left of the Xmen attacked the Baxter building. This part of the world is ruled by various warlords and basically whoever can grab onto power and hold it. Europe's old empires have re-asserted themselves, but their tech base is declining. The Sentinels and the Greys make sure that anti-technology propaganda goes with the anti-mutant propaganda. I'm pretty sure they have a covert hypnosis program for children underway. Time is slowly being turned back to the year 1900. Maybe even before then."

"I should'a died." Nick said.

"Dying solves nothing." Victor said.

"It's an escape." Mystique argued. She was sitting on the floor next to Namorita's chair. Namorita reached down and stroked her hair.

"None of us were lucky enough to die Nick." Sue said.

"What of England?" Victor asked.

"A big question mark." Sue said. "No one who ever goes in comes out again."

"Magic." Victor concluded.

"Most likely." Sue agreed. "If I hadn't managed to find this place England was mine and Jan's next stop. Before we busted all of you out of the Red Skull's palace the biggest problem the world was having was the A.I.M./Hydra war going on in the Northwest United States. Both of them have been using bio-warfare units."

"Who leads them?" Victor asked.

"I don't know." Sue said. "I know that Modok isn't leading A.I.M., he's stuffed and mounted in the Grey's museum in New York. The Sentinels have taken out all of the old supervillains."

"How?" Namorita asked. "They were so powerful, without the Avengers, the Fantastic Four..."

"The Sentinels knew when and how to hit their targets." Sue said. "Superhero and supervillain. Didn't matter."

"SHIELD files." Nick said. "We kept them in case..."

"In case you ever had to kill us." Sue said coldly.

"Capture." Nick argued, but it was in a weak voice.

"But the Juggernaught, Tiger Shark..." Namorita protested. "How did they do it? Juggernaught was invincible!"

"They did it by not caring who got hurt in the process." Sue said. "The morality and concern for human life that would stop the Avengers from taking out a supervillain doesn't exist in the Sentinels or the Greys. Take the Purple Man. He managed to get to a small town in Utah with the Sentinels right on his tail. He used his mind control powers to make the towns people fight for him. So the Sentinels incinerated the entire town. Juggernaught was shot into the sun along with 2 square miles of Los Angeles. He might still be alive, but in the center of the sun."

"But why let Hydra and the rest stay around?" Namorita said. "It doesn't make any sense."

"It does." Nick said. "A kind of sick sense."

Sue was glad that the base didn't have any sort of alcohol, Nick Fury looked like he'd kill to get drunk.

"The Sentinels programming is to prevent further mutation." Victor said. "To do this they impose strict rules. A democracy would not able to enforce such rules, a dictatorship, whoever lead it, would have little trouble. I suspect as long as proper tribute and acquiesces is given to the Sentinels anti-mutant programs there is no trouble staying in power."

"He's right." Sue said.

"Then why leave the Red Skull in charge of half of Africa?" Namorita demanded. "He was experimenting with drugs all the time, wouldn't that be a risk of causing mutation?"

"I hadn't thought of that." Sue said. "I have no idea..."

"He was a tool." Victor said. "Though I am not even sure he was aware of it."

"How so?" Sue asked.

"His drugs were primarily distributed to European ports." Victor said. "I know well those drugs and their effects. They are highly addictive, ultimately destructive. Imagine a society with almost the entirety of its people addicted; then imagine that society cut off from that addiction. Chaos follows, the government either cracks down or falls, and in either case the Greys and the Sentinels will either move in and set up a puppet or simply take over. It will take years and doubtless cost many lives, but it is possible."

"And Atlantis stays safe." Sue said coldly.

Namorita started to say something and then stopped.

"I suspect the Mandarin's China is the only nation safe from such a tactic." Victor said. "He would see such a method and block it."

"Well now Zemo will move in and take it up again." Nick said.

"He won't find it as easy." Victor said. "Without the help of the Atlanteans to smuggle the drugs."

"Namor was only helping the Red Skull because the Skull had me." Namorita said. "He grabbed me while I was in Europe."

"One Atlantean life is worth far more than millions of surface scum." Sue said in an imitation of the Sub-mariner's tone.

"That's not fair." Namorita said coldly.

"That's the state of the world as it is now." Sue said. "That's why we're leaving."

Namorita looked like she was going to say something again but decided against it.

"Well that's it." Sue said. "You can each pick a terminal and read all you want about the world."

"I've seen enough." Nick said standing up. "I'd kill for a drink or a smoke." Clearly shaken he stood up and walked out of the control room.

"I'm going to learn more." Namorita stood up and went to a terminal. "I can't believe it's all that bad."

Without a word Mystique followed her. Sue looked at Victor who was lost in thought.

"Wheels still turning Victor?" Sue asked.

"Yes." he said simply. "But even I am shocked at the state of the planet. It is as you said Susan; our stage has been destroyed and I can only marvel now at how petty some of the great battles and feuds were."

"The supervillains' won." Sue said.

"Your tone accuses me."

"Doom needs no one." Sue quoted. "Humanity is a group of sheep desperately seeking a strong hand to guide them; the hand of Doom. Doom will destroy the Fantastic Four!" Sue sighed. "Replace the word: "Doom" with "Sentinel".

"Do you truly think that even at my worst I would have done this to the world?"

"To kill Reed you would have destroyed a galaxy." Sue said. "You said as much every time we battled. The only two beings in the Doom universe were Doom and Reed Richards. Everyone else was just the supporting cast."

"I did not desire his death." Victor said, keeping his voice steady. Sue wondered if her words had actually hurt him. There was a slight tightening of his face as she talked of the old days. "Not always. Not until I showed him my superiority."

"The truly superior do not have to prove it." Sue said. "Reed said that to you, to the Kree, the Skrull, half a dozen would-be gods..."

"I only heard the self serving words of an inferior." Victor said. "Yes, there were times I did want him dead. My desire for power and vengeance was overwhelming and my continual failure achieve them..."

"Was in the end self destructive." Sue finished.

"True." Victor said. "Had I not become involved with the mutants the Red Skull might not have engineered my downfall, a defeat far more complete than any I had suffered due to the Fantastic Four. It is ironic that Reed and I were brought low at the same time in the same way."

"The same way?"

"Trust. Reed with his trust of SHIELD, I with my trust in my own destiny."

"Reed always said that you two were equal Victor." Sue said tiredly. "You were the one who had to push it. Reed and the rest of us stood between you and what you wanted, and you could never stand that. You had to have the world, no matter what the cost."

"I did have to." Doom said. "There was in me always the desire to rule, yet how could I rule in comfort with the suspicion that another could rule better? That I could not abide. And from the start Reed challenged me, haunted me."

"That accident wasn't his fault." Sue said. "And I'm amazed that all you got from it was a little scar. Makes the mask seem silly when you think about it."

"If there is a mar on an object that object is not perfect. I could be no less than perfect. That experiment was the first time in my life that I experienced failure. In my mind I could not accept that I had made the mistake."

"And now? After it's all over and Reed's dead?"

Victor Von Doom looked at her and for the first time Sue saw honest pain in his eyes.

"When I learned of Latveria's fate Susan I accepted the fact that the myth of Doom was my true failure. The armor I wore, the strength I boasted of, the iron will that would lead me to rule not only the world, but all creation... died when the Red Skull whipped me in chains through the radioactive waste that was my homeland. Once I accepted that I accepted your husbands innocence."

"Did you ever wish for death Victor?" Sue asked. She glanced over to where Mystique sat next to Namorita.

"No." Doom said. "For a time I wished for vengeance. But never, not even in my darkest days as I watched the Red Skull reduce Mystique to what she is now, never did I wish to die. I wished to prove to myself that at least part of the myth of Doom was true, that he could not be killed. I supposed that little shard of vanity kept me alive."

"And what now?" Sue asked. "To conquer and rule?"

"To rule and repair." Victor countered. "It is what your husband would do were he still alive."

Son of a... The shock of his words rippled up and down Sue's heart like an Earthquake. How dare he! Reed...

It took a few seconds for Sue to realize that Victor hadn't spoken the words as a challenge or a condemnation. In fact he wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were staring at the images of destruction still displayed on the monitors. For a moment Sue almost hit him. Then she clamped down on her emotions, ruthlessly pinning them into another part of her.

Is he still Dr. Doom? Is he just playing me? Damn-it how can I be sure? What if he's sincere? Reed always said Victor had potential...

The words and memory of her late husband stopped Sue's thoughts cold. She almost didn't hear what Victor said next.

"Reed Richards would have succeeded. I must acknowledge that fact. Perhaps this is our last contest, though he is long since passed from the world. If he would have at least tried, how can I not do the same? And I wonder, Susan, do I do it for the sake of Dr. Doom? Victor Von Doom? Or the millions who I once thought so beneath me? Does humiliation and defeat breed nobility?"

When you know the answer to that question Victor, Sue thought, I'll know if I can trust you or not. But are you talking to yourself or are you talking to me? Is the old Dr. Doom still in there pulling the strings?

"Are motives important?" Sue countered.

"Your husband always maintained they were. Once I would not have thought so." Victor said. "Now I have many questions."

"Find the answers when you can." Sue said. "First fix the hyperdrives."

"That part of me has not changed Susan." Victor said reaching for the console that linked to the computer. "My word is still my bond."

Sue nodded and walked away.

IS HE PLAYING ME???? That question echoed in Sue's mind for the rest of the day. That and the memories of Reed that Victor's talk had brought to the surface.

For a few hours after that talk Sue stood invisibly in the console room and watched Doom and Namorita. Every now and then Namorita would stop a report, mumble to herself and then move on. Mystique had gone off with May and Jan, at Mary Jane's request, so that they could find some clothing for her. Left alone Namorita threw herself into her self appointed study. At times she paled at the scene relayed to her on the monitor screen. Doom absorbed page after page of Kree writing and technical diagrams. They passed in front of his eyes at such a fast rate that Sue could barely follow them. Victor sat quietly, only occasionally whispering to himself. He reminded her so much of Reed that Sue had to turn away and look out of the window.

From the control room Sue could look out on the entire base. Bellow her was the main building entrance, on either side were the skeletal dry-docks that held the Kree ships. Parked next to one of the ships was an Avengers Quinjet, most likely the last one in existence. The natural cavern that the base was built into was huge. It was lit by hundreds of sunlamps that hung from the roof. From the round central building branched out smaller buildings filled with supplies. Beyond one of the ships Sue could see a small section that she had set up as a training camp for Rebecca.

Nick Fury walked out of the building. From the window she watched as he walked aimlessly around the base. Head bent, shoulders slumped he stopped in front of the Avengers Quinjet. For a few minutes he stood and looked at the giant "A" on the tail. Then he slumped to the ground and put his head in his hands.

"You guys hungry?" Rebecca asked coming into the control room. Sue turned around and saw that it was nearly noon. Rebecca came into the control room carrying a tray of sandwiches and cups of milk. She was wearing a simple blue tunic with a gold belt.

"To have more than one meal a day will take a bit of re-adaptation." Victor said taking the glass of milk. "But I think it is one I will enjoy."

"Anything to get away from this." Namorita said shoving herself away from the screen.

"Yea, it's bad out there." Rebecca said. "It wasn't so bad for us, Las Vegas is an ok place."

"But everything else..." Namorita took a bite out of her sandwich. "It's like I'm looking at a different planet."

"That's why Sue and Mary Jane are taking us away." Rebecca said.

"You don't want to stay and fix it?" Namorita asked.

"How? The Sentinels killed my parents... everyone. I wanted to fight them, but Sue says we can't win."

"That's her opinion."

Trolling for allies Namorita? Sue thought. She held her place and her silence, but it was difficult.

"She saved us all from the Red Skull's men." Rebecca said, her voice turning hard. "Your brother didn't lift a finger to help anyone."

"Her brother is a monarch." Victor said before Namorita could speak. "As a former monarch I can attest that the luxury of standing on principle and acting from personal desires is a rare one."

"That's a cop out." Rebecca said. "That's what people in power always say when they're too scared to do anything. If you believe in something you risk everything for it. That's what my dad used to tell me and he wasn't scared of anything."

"My brother wasn't scared." Namorita protested.

"Then why didn't he do anything?" Rebecca demanded. "The Avengers saved Atlantis a million times, put your brother back on the throne... saved you from marrying Atuma..."

"They didn't have the responsibility of a nation." Namorita said.

"No, just the world." Rebecca shot back.

They were ready to come to blows and Sue wondered if she should step in. But Mary Jane appeared at the doorway.

"Rebecca are you in here?" she called.

Sue smiled. Mary Jane knew exactly where Rebecca was.

And to think they used to call me a den mother. Sue thought. Mary Jane has me beat.

"Right here Mary Jane." Rebecca said.

"Can you do me a favor and bring some food out to Nick? I need to talk to Victor about something."

"Ok." Rebecca said and with a teen-aged look at Namorita left.

"Nick's very depressed." Mary Jane said after Rebecca left. "I hope she can bring him out of it."

"Mary Jane do you blame my brother for not helping when the Sentinels attacked?"

"No." Mary Jane said after a pause. "Not like Sue does, but then he didn't turn my son over to the Greys."

"I didn't know about that." Namorita said. "I was prisoner of Sa-Attuma, Attuma's son for years, by the time Namor defeated him it was all over. I had no idea what had happened."

"Well Sue isn't mad at you." Mary Jane said. "She just wants to make sure we're all safe."

"She doesn't trust me." Namorita said. "I used to date Johny, Sue knows me, I wouldn't do anything to harm any of you."

You dumped him. Sue thought. But Johny got over it, it's not that I don't trust you Namorita, it's that I don't dare trust anyone.

"Not intentionally, but Sue's been through stuff that's worse than any of you can understand. I know, "she said holding up a hand as they started to protest "the Red Skull was as evil as they come, but what they did to Sue and Jan..."

"The Skull was a sadist." Namorita said.

"So are the Greys." Mary Jane said. "But even before they got to her Sue was held by the Sentinels."

"She has a point." Victor said. "A robot works from its program. If you direct your research to what the Sentinels do to newly capture mutants, I think you will find that Susan has indeed gone through worse than even we can imagine."

Namorita shrugged and went back to her own console.

For a moment Sue moved to stop her, then she stopped herself. She really didn't want anyone to know what had happened to her while she held by the Sentinels. The humiliations they had heaped upon her had seemed bad at the time, but she knew now they had been merely a prologue to the true hell to come. Still she didn't want Namorita's or anyone else's pity.

But what the hell. Sue thought as she turned to the window again. A couple of hundred people must have seen the recordings already... the Greys told me they'd use it as a training film.

"I'm still worried about Nick." Mary Jane said.

"He bears a self-imposed burden of guilt." Victor said. "In time it should lift."

"I hope so." Mary Jane said. "I know how busy you'll be with the ships, but I'd like to ask you a favor."

"I owe you much." Victor said. "A favor seems a small price to ask for repayment."

"Ben and May haven't been to school for a while now, I was wondering if you could set up some sort of learning program for them on the base computer, teach them how to read and speak Kree."

"Kree?" Victor asked.

"Well, if we are going to live out there we should at least know one of the languages, besides Ben has been itching to play with the computers on the base and May wants to learn how to use the medical center. Either someone teaches them or they experiment on their own, and that's dangerous."

I never thought of that. Sue thought as she looked out at Nick and Rebecca. She was sitting with Nick, a tray of food between them. I've been so focused on getting away I never thought about anything else.

Nick and Rebecca were arguing about something. Turning from the window Sue walked toward the lift. Rebecca didn't seem to be getting anyplace with Nick, but Sue had an idea of what could help. She had just gotten to the lift when it opened and Ben, May, Jan and Mystique came charging off. Mystique and Jan were naked.

"Mom!" May called. "Ben's been spying on us again!"

"I have not!" Ben protested.

"I saw him outside the window when Jan and I were making clothes for Mystique, he was trying to see Jan naked again!"

"I was not!" Ben protested again.

"He was too! And last night I caught him trying to spy on Rebecca!"

Sue couldn't stop the smile from coming onto her face as the lift doors closed.

Rebecca was walking toward the main entrance when Sue reached the door. A puzzled and somewhat frustrated look was on her face.

"Trouble?" Sue asked.

"I don't know." Rebecca said. She looked back at Nick who was sitting with his back against one of the Quinjet's tires. "I said I was sorry about calling him a traitor and all that. I mean it wasn't his fault."

"He's probably still in a bit of shock." Sue said. "After all up until a few days ago he was a prisoner and he never expected anyone to rescue him."

"I guess." Rebecca said shrugging.

"You up for a workout?" Sue asked.

"Yea, ok."

"Go get changed, I'll talk to Nick and meet you by the targets in about ten minutes."

"Right."

Lead isn't as dense as a teenager. Sue thought as she walked over to Nick. God I wish I was that young again. I bet Nick does too.

"Odd place to be." Sue said coming up to him.

"No normal places any more is there?" Nick said. Sue sat down next to him. "What you got?"

It was a small box, un-marked. Still sitting near the bed where Ben Grimm had left it a lifetime ago. Sue had made herself walk into that room, pushed through the ghosts of a time long since past and found what she knew would be there.

"Nobody else here smokes." She said opening the lid of the box as she handed it too him.

"Cuban!" Nick said, surprised. He took the cigar, delighted for a moment, then a cloud came over his face and he put it back. "Grimm's."

"He never told any of us how he got them." Sue said. "And he wouldn't mind Nick."

If he was here he'd stuff my butt into the engine and turn it on." Nick said bitterly.

"He might have, if he didn't know the truth." Sue said. "A few weeks ago I would have."

"You gonna tell me it's not my fault?" Nick said. "When they give you the ball you don't drop it."

"You do if they whack you on the head after you get it." Sue said. She put the cigar box in front of him. "Look Nick we both know it wasn't your fault. Maybe you could have done something different, maybe I could have. But we didn't. Beating ourselves up won't do any good." Sue stood up. "Do what you want with the cigars, just don't let Ben try any or Mary Jane will kill you."

As Sue had guessed Rebecca came out of the main building and headed over toward the targets. She was wearing cut-off jeans and a T-shirt. Sue didn't miss Fury's reaction at the sight of Rebecca with Captain America's shield.

"She wants to be what her parents were." Sue said. "So does Ben. Mary Jane isn't happy about it, but she's letting me train them anyway."

Sue stood up and walked over toward Rebecca without looking back.

It took no more than one cigar for Nick Fury to join them. He stood and watched for a few minutes as Rebecca worked her way through the improvised obstacle course Sue had worked out. Rebecca went through it once, twice and halfway through the third go through Nick spoke up.

"Roll your legs in tighter." he called as Rebecca landed wrong. "Don't fight the ground, roll with it."

"You want to take over?" Sue asked.

"Dirty trick." Nick said taking the cigar out of his mouth. His voice was gruff, but his eye was shining with the gratitude he'd never say aloud. And suddenly Sue wasn't talking to Nick Fury, but to Ben Grimm: the Thing. The walking pile of orange rock who could shatter boulders and buildings with one punch, but who became a mute statue when any sort of honest expression of emotion or gratitude was called for. Sue's entire being shuddered at the memories that pounded against her mind, but she kept herself together. Ben, as Nick, would never tolerate emotional displays between two people.

"You need to get into shape too." Sue said. "But take it easy, she's young and your old."

"I ain't that old." Nick said.

"But she's that young." Sue said. "And she's no marine recruit."

Nick nodded.

"What's up?" Rebecca asked coming over to them.

"Nick's going to take over for a while Rebecca." Sue said. "He knows some moves that I don't."

"Ok." Rebecca said not realizing at all what was going on.

While Nick started to explain to Rebecca what she was doing wrong Sue walked around to the entrance of the building. It was only when she was out of sight that she collapsed against the side of the doorway, wiping tears from her eyes. Her lapse in control lasted only a minute or two; then she pulled herself together and walked into the building. She almost didn't see Mary Jane waiting by the lift.

"He can train them better than I can." Sue said.

"I guess." Mary Jane said. "Ben wants to practice web slinging in an hour."

"I'll be ready." Sue said. "For now I'll keep an eye on Namorita."

Sue turned invisible just as Namorita and Mystique walked into the lift. Mystique was wearing a gold bikini, or rather cloth shaped like a bikini that was draped over her shoulders and around her waist. If she moved the wrong way everything could be seen, but Sue suspected it was the best May and Jan could do. Namorita leaned on her, clearly tired.

"You need to rest mistress." Mystique said.

"Raven you don't have to call me that." Namorita said as Mystique pushed the button.

"No one else is here mistress." Mystique said flinching at the name.

"Raven." Namorita started and Sue saw Mystique shy away. "It's ok if I use your real name. No one will hurt you."

"The Red Skull will." Mystique said in a voice that reminded Sue of Jan when they first escaped. It was the voice of an abused child, someone who not only expects pain but also is puzzled when no pain is forthcoming. "He gave me to you, he'll be mad if..."

"He's dead." Namorita said. "We both saw his head cut off."

The door to the lift opened and they both stepped through it with Sue right behind them.

"He's been dead before." Mystique said. "He comes back."

"Not this time." Namorita said.

Mystique had a point Sue knew. The Red Skull had been reported dead dozens of times, but always seemed to come back.

"The point is Rav... Mystique, that you're free, you don't have to serve me, you can do what you want."

"I want to serve you mistress." Mystique said as they came to the door of their room. The look of fear on her face was tragic as she paused. "Don't you want me to... I need to serve you mistress... there is nothing else for me."

They went inside and Sue hesitated only for a moment before following them. Mystique helped Namorita over to the bed.

"I'll run a bath for you mistress." Mystique said.

"Raven wait." Namorita said. Taking hold of her arm she pulled Mystique down to the bed. Mystique squirmed slightly but did not pull away. "Think back, before the Red Skull captured you. You weren't a servant."

"No... please." Mystique started to cry. "I can't remember, he'll punish me if I remember. Please, let me draw your bath..."

"He's dead." Namorita insisted, almost pleading. "You're free. Really free."

"I don't want to be free." Mystique insisted. "I never want to be free. I was free when I killed all those people, I was free when I started the wars... If I'm free I'm evil, if I'm a slave I'm good."

Sue felt a tug at her heart as Mystique said that last sentence. It was not merely said, it was recited by rote. Sue suddenly had a full vision of the endless days of torture the Red Skull must have put Mystique through. He had taken her at nearly the same time Sue had been captured. That meant at least ten years of concentrated torture from a truly sick mind. Sue had been through many hands, with many different tastes in sadism. Mystique had known only one. One truly dedicated sick mind that had full power over her and had set as a goal the complete destruction of Mystique as a person. The Skull, like the Hitler-god he worshiped, thought of women as ornaments. Pretty things to be used or tossed away. Mystique was a leader in her own right, intelligent, strong, everything the Red Skull despised in a woman. He would have torn her down in a way he would not have done for Victor or Nick. Sue almost cried and wondered if Namorita really knew how lucky she was. If the Skull had not needed her whole to show Namor her torture would have matched Mystique's.

Namorita seemed to see it as well. With a sigh she let Mystique go.

"Draw the bath." She said.

"Thank you mistress." Mystique said and hurried into the bathroom before Namorita could change her mind.

After a few minutes Namorita got off of the bed, pulled off her jumpsuit and followed Mystique into the bathroom. Namorita was older, but Sue could see no scars on her body and her breasts were still firm and high upon her chest. Sue swallowed her anger at both Mystique and herself.

Just because she doesn't show them doesn't mean they aren't there. Sue told herself sternly. But a part of her didn't listen.

Only a few of the rooms in the base had anything but showers. Mary Jane had thoughtfully put Namorita and Mystique into one of them. The bathroom was larger than Sue's was with a tub that was deep and long. Sue suspected that the room was supposed to be used for visiting dignitaries. She hadn't chosen it because it was too near the rooms that she and the rest of the Fantastic Four had once used. The tub was metal, five feet wide and at least ten feet long. By the time Namorita entered the bathroom it was nearly filled.

"At least you can wear clothes again." Namorita said. Mystique had shed her own clothes and in the light of the bathroom Sue saw her scars, and realized that they mostly formed swastika-like patterns. Her breasts did sag. The picture of mistress and slave irritated Sue.

"May and Jan are nice." Mystique said. "The fabric doesn't hurt. I didn't like the way Mary Jane kept looking at me."

"She's got a son to think of. Be more worried about the way Ben is looking at you." A look of peace came to Namorita's face as she settled into the water. "A bath. It's been so long."

"Will she asked me to serve him?" Mystique asked, not keeping the fear out of her voice. "Like I served Nick and Victor and you?"

"She's not the Skull Mystique." Namorita said gently. "She'd never ask you to do anything you didn't want to do."

Namorita settled back and sighed, closing her eyes. Mystique picked up a cloth and started to run it along Namorita's arm.

"What about the Invisible Woman?"

"She hates Namor and she's using me to hurt him." Namorita said. "But I can't do anything about that now, I'm too weak to fight her."

"It's nice here."

"That's another reason we'll stay for a bit."

Mystique moved the washing cloth over Namorita's shoulders and started to move down. Sue waited for Namorita to stop Mystique, but Namorita seemed lost in the moment. Sue could understand that. Luxury was tempting, especially to someone who had been imprisoned for so long. But as Mystique moved the cloth onto her breast Namorita stopped her.

"No Mystique."

"But..." Mystique was clearly confused. "I have too..."

"You don't have to serve me that way." Namorita said.

"But before..."

"That was the L'Dusty." Namorita said. "We didn't have a choice."

L'Dusty was an incredibly strong aphrodisiac. It was one of the designer drugs that the Red Skull had perfected and sold. The powder was very expensive, highly addictive and very sadistic. Once exposed to it a person would be thrust into lustful state that could last from minutes to hours to even days. It drove that person to have sex with anyone, anything in sight and if a partner was not available it caused the heart to literally explode. Sue had never been exposed to it, but she had seen a guard try to give it to Jan once. She had fought him and the powder had been thrown into the river. Some of it had gotten on him in the struggle and he had raped her again and again until Sue managed to crush his windpipe. A sudden stab of sympathy for Namorita filled Sue.

"I didn't have any dust." Mystique said. "The Red Skull commanded me to please you." She pulled her arm away and sat down. "I didn't please you. I'm sorry mistress."

"Mystique..." Namorita started to speak and then trailed off. "It's ok. You did please me. The L'Dusty simply... helped."

"I did please you?" Mystique asked reaching over with the washcloth again.

"Yes you did." Namorita said, catching Mystique's wrist and holding it gently. "But neither of us is in shape to do that again. Not now."

It was a dodge, Sue could tell that, but she knew that Mystique could not.

"For now why don't you see what Jarvis is making us for dinner." Namorita suggested.

"Leave you alone?" Mystique asked, her voice trembling slightly. "But, you'll need to be dried after your bath."

"I'll wait right here until you get back." Namorita said. "Now go."

The command was unmistakable and Mystique responded. Sue followed her out, slipping through the door before it closed. Namorita was weaker than she wanted everyone else to know, Sue could hear that in her voice. But she also heard genuine concern for Mystique and sadness for what the Red Skull had done to her friend. Sue still wasn't sure she could trust the Atlantean, but at least Sue thought she could start to think about whether or not to trust her.

"That poor woman." Mary Jane said.

It was late. Sue and Mary Jane sat in the control room. Mary Jane had come with a pair of cups filled with hot chocolate. On the screen in front of them a commentator for some French television network spoke and above his shoulder was an image of the Red Skull's palace. The palace was a smoking wreck and above it was the flag of Baron Zemo. Sue had told Mary Jane what she had overheard.

"I'm glad I killed him." Sue agreed. "Mystique could easily be me or Jan, and she's closer to Jan than me."

"Do you think either of them could ever recover?"

"I don't know." Sue said. "Jan suffered some sort of brain damage, either from the nails or the fever or the infection. With the right medical treatment maybe she could recover. But Mystique... The Red Skull took her apart and he had over a decade to do it."

"And she's completely hooked into Namorita?"

"Yep." Sue took a long drink from her cup. "Obeying the last command of the Red Skull. I only hope that Namorita has the self control to keep trying to help her, not use her."

"Still don't trust her?"

"I'm not sure." Sue saw the picture change on the monitor and she spoke a word in Kree. They heard a translation of the French newsman's words.

"Though there was a fierce pitched battle between three armies, Atlantean, American and the troops of Baron Zemo, there still remains no clear winner. Baron Zemo has laid claim to what is left of the Red Skull's palace and has formed an alliance with the Atlantean forces under Namor. There is no word yet on the terms of the alliance."

"I know we can't trust Namor." Sue said. She winced as the hot chocolate hit her tooth.

"We're doing ok Sue." Mary Jane said putting her hand on Sue's shoulder. "You've gotten us this far."

"We've gotten us this far." Sue said. She shut off the monitor. "Too far to take chances or let our guard down."

"You need to get some sleep." Mary Jane said. Sue stood up and they walked toward the lift. "I'm still wiped out from that fever, I know you're tired too."

"Cosmic blood." Sue said smiling.

Mary Jane shook her head.

"Sheer stubbornness."

"Whatever." Sue said as they got into the lift.

It was raining. Sue wasn't sure how or why she knew that, but she knew it. She didn't know where she was. It was cold, frigid and as Sue became more aware of herself and her surroundings she shivered. She was laying down on something hard and icy. Naked. It brought back memories of the hard aluminum slab that she had been strapped to after her capture. But there were no cold, analytic voices to chill her soul. Nor was she blindfolded. She felt a wind, a warm one cascade over her body and heard in the distance more wind howling.

Sue opened her eyes and sat up. She was on a raised stone slab in a graveyard. The graveyard was ancient and un-cared for. But it was not tombstones that marked the graves, but statues. Around her, clearly seen in the light of a sun that gave no heat, were heroes and heroines. Some statues were stone, some were metal, some seemed to be made of wax. They were pitted and scared by the ages. Spiders made webs between arms and legs, bats hung from faces, moths nested in ears.

The graveyard was endless. From one horizon to the other the statues stood facing her. The looks on those faces she could read were full of anger and hate. Accusation.

Vainly Sue tried to think of words to say, words of denial or words to comfort the dead. Before she could utter a syllable some of the statues seemed to move. With a sound that scalded Sue's soul, snakes and worms emerged from every pit or scar gouged out of the statue's bodies by ages of weather. With a noise that could only be described as unholy they started toward her. They seemed to speak, but not in voices that were even vaguely human. But Sue understood the voices. She understood their anger and their pain. They were the cries of the damned and they were calling to her. Calling to her to join them at long last.

Sue tried to stand and to run, but suddenly solid black metal chains were on her ankles and wrist. She screamed as they pulled her back down to the solid stone, pulling her arms and legs apart until she was a helpless giant human X. The air turned fetid and ghastly as the worms and the snakes reached her slab. Before it had been ice cold, now it was red hot and Sue felt her skin begin to roast. The snakes reached her first, moving up her legs, forcing their way into her womb. She could hear them laughing at her pain. She screamed as the vermin breached her body, only to have those screams cut off as the worms filled her mouth. Breaking the chains Sue tore at them all.

Sue woke up soaked in sweat and tearing at the last remnants of her pillow. Her mind was a complete blank. The nightmare had fled to wherever nightmares go. She tried to get up but her limbs betrayed her and she fell off of the bed and onto the floor. Crawling on her hands and knees Sue made it to the bathroom in time to throw up. Feeling dirty, violated and ashamed, Sue climbed into the shower and turned on the hot water. She stayed there, setting the water first hot and then cold and then hot again until it was time to get up.

Sue was used to going without sleep for long periods. But there was a difference between a lack of sleep and being afraid too sleep. Sue found she was actually frightened at the thought of closing her eyes.

She could never remember the form of the nightmares, whatever happened to her in them vanished from her memory when she woke up. But she knew they were horrible. Far more than horrible, far more than any hell Sue had ever known. To escape them Sue stayed away from her bed, taking naps when she could find the time. But naps were only a stopgap solution. And, if Sue admitted it only to herself, the times she fell asleep were not so much naps as they were Sue passing out from exhaustion.

Victor had responded to Mary Jane's request and found a set of language lessons in the base's computer. Nick sat in on the lessons, though he was still non-commital about his plans for the future. Namorita and Mystique spent time in either their room or the control room watching the images of the world. Namorita was often sullen but she hadn't made any attempts to contact her brother.

Perhaps the oddest thing that happened was that Sue found herself working as Victor's assistant as he studied the ships. The way the systems were laid out it took at least two people to run tests. Sue had done it alone by going through each system one at a time, and cursing as she had done so. It was Victor who showed her the basic procedural step that could have avoided a system by system start up.

Sue spent a good part of the initial morning with him cursing herself.

"The sequence is running." Sue said in the communicator.

"Acknowledged." Victor said.

Sue leaned back in the chair. She was on the flight deck of Hero's Ark and Victor was in the engine room. Around her the ship hummed quietly to itself. Outside Rebecca practiced her shield throwing, Mary Jane supervised Ben and May as they played the game with Jan. Jarvis and Nick were playing poker on the wing of the Quinjet. On the monitor to her right Sue could see Mystique and Namorita in the control room. Namorita had not once tried to contact Namor, and hadn't spoken about it to Mystique. Namorita had also managed to gently handle Mystique's condition, letting her do enough to satisfy her, but not so much that Mystique was her complete slave. Sue was starting to trust her.

"Sequence change." Sue said, as the read out on her other monitor shifted. "It's showing N1 at 34% green, N2 at 55% green and n5-n15 at fluctuating levels of nSpace intrusion."

"Acknowledged." Victor said again.

It would help if I knew what the hell I was talking about! Sue thought.

That wasn't exactly true and she knew it. Victor had told them all, at considerable length, how the hyperdrives worked. The principle was easy enough to gasp. He had told them to imagine the universe as a vast sea. "Reality", for lack of a better term, was the water. Hyperspace was the air, and it was far easier to travel through the air than the water. The Kree hyperdrives were a set of crystals that, when energy was applied, vibrated at a certain rate, creating a large field that lifted the ship out of normal space and into hyperspace. There was only a thin ribbon of hyperspace through which it was safe for a ship to travel through.

Victor had started to explain it when they sat down to eat dinner. His explanation had been full of mathematical expressions and abstract theories of space and time. Sue had been forced many times to stop him so that she could explain what he had just said. She watched him during those times. The old Doom had been enraged that anyone would dare interrupt him. Victor did not seem to mind. At least Sue could not tell for sure if he did or not.

He had lectured for hours and Sue at last had to stop him by politely pointing out that Ben and May were starting to nod off, and Jan and Mystique were already asleep. Victor's apology was much like Reeds. Too much like Reeds. Sue hadn't even tried to go to sleep that night.

Damn-it I've got to stop thinking about Reed. Sue told herself. He's dead, long dead. The fact that Victor is as smart as he was and talks a little like him at times...

Reed's face floated in front of Sue's mind. He too had loved to lecture. So much so that Sue had found the best way to stop him was to kiss him. Those kisses always caught him off guard. There would be a moment of puzzlement on his face, the spark of realization in his eyes and then he would return the kiss.

"Susan?"

Sue blinked and looked up. The console was in standby mode and no one was kissing her. Reed's face vanished.

"I'm sorry Victor." Sue said. "I'm more tired than I thought I was."

"You are not eating well." Victor said.

"It's hard to eat period." Sue said. She glanced at the chronometer read out. Luckily she had only been asleep for fifteen minutes. "I don't have a lot of teeth left, neither does Jan. The guards liked them as souvenirs."

"I'm sorry." Victor said.

"Didn't the Skull ever knock a few of your teeth out?" Sue asked.

"A few." Victor said. "But this explains your fatigue of late and the pain I see on Jan's and your faces while we eat. You are not eating enough. Open your mouth."

A little reluctantly Sue did so. Using a small penlight Doom peered into her.

"They need to be fixed." he pronounced.

"We don't have a dentist office around." Sue said. "And we have more important things to do."

"You are mistaken." Victor said. "I think we should stop for the day while I examine the medical unit, May has been anxious for me to do so at any rate."

"What about the Hyperdrive?" Sue asked as he turned to go.

"I am running a test now that does not need my attention. You should rest, I will talk with you again later."

Damn you don't dismiss me! Sue wanted to shout and she had actually opened her mouth and started to rise before getting hold of herself. It wasn't a dismissal as much as it was Victor moving onto another problem. Sue had seen Reed do the same thing many times. Or had she?

Frustrated and angry with herself Sue got out of the chair and headed toward the exit. Thoughts of Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four had been coming to her more and more. The memories were unsettling, distracting and Sue told herself and told herself that she couldn't afford to be distracted. Needing a task to concentrate on Sue turned invisible and went to spy on Namorita.

The room was large enough for three beds and two chairs. Display screens were everywhere, both flat and holographic. Cabinets full of tools and medical instruments were set against one wall.

But it was the smell of the place that got to Sue. The air was cool, antiseptic, it was new air or at least it seemed to be new air. Sue could not explain why it scared her, but it did.

"I'm not sure about this." Sue said as she walked in. Behind her was Mary Jane, already in the room was Victor and May. Jan was flying about the room examining everything at once.

"You need to eat Susan." Victor said. "And beyond that is the fact that unless at least two of the teeth I saw are healed they will soon abscess."

"You've only had a half day to look at all this stuff." Sue protested. She sat down in the chair anyway. Sue knew that Victor was right about her teeth, they were becoming more and more sensitive and the pain was just one more distraction she didn't need.

"A cursory examination was all that was needed." Victor said. "I am not dissecting these machines as I am the hyperdrive engines, it is not necessary at this point. All I have to do is understand the basic operating principles and follow the directions."

"You mean this place teaches you how to practice medicine?" Mary Jane asked. She looked at the arcane machinery.

"You forget Mary Jane that the Kree military built this place." Victor said. "The military mind always prepares for the worst case scenario. In this case personnel who were not trained medically, at least not beyond a simple course of instruction, might someday be needed to treat combat casualties. Mouth injuries are common in combat."

"I get to do one too." May said anxiously. "You said she had two teeth that needed work."

"Be patient." Victor said. He went over to one of the cabinets and took out two pairs of glasses. Putting one on he handed the other to May. Then he pushed a button on the side of Sue's chair.

A soft whine filtered through Sue's body and for a moment her heart stopped. The whine was so familiar, but so forgotten. Sue was sure she had heard it before, but when and where was a mystery.

"Easy Sue." Mary Jane said taking hold of her hand. "You look white as a ghost."

"You want me to go first?" Jan asked landing in Sue's lap.

"No, I'll be fine." Sue said.

I guess this means I trust Victor now. Sue thought as she leaned back and opened her mouth. You're never as vulnerable as when you are in a dentist chair or on a gynecologist table. Oh God Sue don't go there! Not there! God why am I so scared? I do trust him, I've spent too much time with him over the past few days, seen too little of the old Dr. Doom, but I'm terrified! Why? I was never scared of the dentist before.

"May, push the button on the left side of your glasses." Victor said. Then he spoke some words in Kree.

"Shock!" May shouted. "It's like I'm on the inside of her mouth!"

"What you are seeing is a holographic recreation of her mouth created by the medical scanners." Victor said. He spoke in Kree again. "What you are now seeing in the box to your left is the actual tooth. In the box to your right is an X-ray of that tooth."

"Cool!" May said. "In color too!"

"The views are controlled by voice commands." Victor said. "So pay attention to the words as I speak them."

"Right."

Sue took a tighter grip on Mary Jane's hand and fought to keep from bolting out of the chair. Her fear deepened when Victor took a stubby pen-like object and eased it into her mouth.

"You will not feel any pain Susan." He said pushing her tongue out of the way.

"I got a new display on the bottom." May said.

"That is a mode and power setting scale that is adjustable from the focus unit I am holding." Victor said.

"How many things are you seeing?" Mary Jane asked.

"Three views." May said. "It's incredible mom, they look so real."

"The detail is very important." Victor said. "Now May, look at the tooth. As you can see the decay has penetrated nearly to the root, and the center of the tooth itself is only protected by a thin shell. First we must remove the decayed portion."

Sue felt a humming in her head. She was sweating heavily and the fear was growing. A slight odor reached her nose; it reminded Sue of overcooked coffee grounds. But she felt only a vague hum and dryness in her mouth.

"It's going away." May said. "How? Burning?"

"If it were burning Sue would let us know." Victor said. "Do you see the green light? The medical computer is tracking that light. Wherever that beam rest invisible beams are focused from unit above us. Where those beams intersect matter is disintegrated. I am using the second control on the focus unit to determine the depth and letting the images of the tooth tell me where and how far to go."

Sue looked up and saw that a box had descended silently from the ceiling. On the box were half a dozen cylinders all pointing at her. Sue swallowed and only sheer terror kept her in the chair. The time it took to remove the bad part of the tooth seemed like time in her nightmares.

"It's all gone." May said at last. "So what do we do now, re-grow it?"

"This sort of bone can not be re-grown quickly." Victor replied. Again he spoke a word in Kree. "Do you see the outline over the tooth?"

"Yea."

"That is the original shape of the tooth as recreated by the genetic blue print within the tooth itself. Beside it is a chemical breakdown of the matter of the tooth. As I focus the beam now a two step process will take place. First a small amount of that matter will be created and then that will be teleported onto the tooth. This will be done in layers and each layer will be teleported so that it is slightly overlapping the other layer, this will form the bond that will hold the new tooth material to the old."

"That is so cool." May said.

"Beats the old drill and fill method." Mary Jane said. "What do you think Sue?"

Sue didn't move or speak. She barely managed to squeeze Mary Jane's hand a little tighter. By this time Sue's body was bathed in sweat and her mind felt like it was being pulled apart by fear. She lay still as death as Victor worked and talked. May asked questions and talked. Mary Jane commented and talked. At some point during all the talking Sue stopped hearing anything. She was in another chair, in another room. A far younger Sue had just been caught and rapped for the first time and now she sat, helpless while men and women poked and prodded her body. That Sue had been gagged and only managed to grunt out her anguish. That Sue screamed for help but the older Sue who sat in the chair in the Kree base suffered in silence.

Sue opened her eyes and looked around. Mary Jane was sitting in the medical room. Victor, May and Jan were gone.

"What happened?" Sue asked.

"You passed out just after the first tooth was done." Mary Jane said.

Sue moved her tongue around her mouth. For the first time in years there were no jagged edges, no sore spots. The gaps were still there, but the broken teeth had been fixed.

"I guess now I can eat again." Sue said sitting up. "I hope I didn't disappoint May."

"I think she liked it better that you were asleep." Mary Jane said. "You were so scared it scared her."

"I'm sorry." Sue said. Mary Jane helped her out of the chair. "I didn't realize it at first. When I was caught... I told you about it. This was the sort of room where it was done."

"No wonder you were scared." Mary Jane said.

"It's past." Sue said. "Maybe now I can eat and get some strength into me."

"It might help if you got some sleep too." Mary Jane said. "It's been over a week Sue, don't you trust them yet?"

"Well I think I just proved how much I trust Victor." Sue said.

"So let up already." Mary Jane said. "You can't keep shuffling around like a zombie, you could pass it off as malnutrition before, but not after this."

"You're right." Sue said, sounding as sane and reasonable as she could. "I have to get some rest."

If only I could get through a night. Sue thought. Just getting onto the bed terrifies me. But Mary Jane is right, I have to try and get some sleep. Maybe tonight will be different.

This time Sue remembered the nightmare. She woke fighting the mob that had first caught her. She clawed her way out of their grip and came face to face with the corpses of the Fantastic Four. All of them were there, including herself. They had looked at Sue with condemnation and she had watched, unable to look away as their bodies crumbled with hideously slow decay. The corruption that claimed their bodies left their faces for last and those looks were the last to go. Sue had run from them, into the arms of Doom. He was wearing full armor and when she tore the mask from his face Reed looked out at her. But she had torn that mask as well to reveal the face of a Sentinel robot. Then she was in the graveyard again.

That had woken Sue up. Staggering out of the bed she had crawled into the bathroom to throw up. Then climbed into the shower. But this time the water did not keep her awake. Sue didn't have the strength to stay awake anymore. Sleep claimed her and the nightmare of the graveyard and the statues was waiting.

Mary Jane always kept her door open a crack and she slept very lightly. So she woke up instantly as Sue entered the room. Mary Jane slept with the lights dim, not out. To her Sue looked like a walking corpse. Her blonde/white hair hung on her head, her eyes were wide with shock, her mouth moved as if trying to speak, parts of her body kept vanishing, only to re-appear as she lost control of her power. Crying softly, naked and with her hair still wet from the shower Sue climbed onto the bed and huddled against Mary Jane. Sue didn't so much cry as she whimpered, and Mary Jane knew that the strength to cry out, to release with sound the agony that had finally brought her friend to this point simply wasn't there.

Mary Jane drew the sheets over Sue's body and hugged her tightly. She didn't say anything, Mary Jane had spent years raising children and she knew there was a time no words would help. As the night wore on and Sue silently suffered Mary Jane held on to her.

Neither Sue nor Mary Jane slept. Though while Sue was not asleep she was also not fully aware. Instead she was too aware. The damn that she had built over the past decade and beyond had finally broke and all she could do was let the emotions wash over her. They burned her soul with a flame of intensity that mocked real fire and put hellfire to shame. Insanity beckoned seductively, standing beyond the reach of time and space and offering the false promise of endless peace. But that small part of Sue Richards that knew where she was, that knew what was going on, stubbornly refused to let go. She clung to Mary Jane, physically and emotionally and bade Insanity to withdraw. But Insanity proved to be very patient. Sue could see it almost as a physical being, standing in the doorway.

It was not alone. Beside Insanity stood Death. And Death, Sue well knew, would bring her peace. But as Mary Jane anchored her against Insanity she anchored Sue against Death as well, for Sue would not leave her friend to a world that mercy had fled.

The area between Sue and the twin specters was not a quiet empty place. Around Sue danced and screamed all the men and women who had ever beaten or raped her. She saw through their eyes as they beat and raped her, and felt with her own body as the scars were raised again and again on her flesh. Standing between the dancers was the tall, silent and ominous Sentinels. The robots' faces: un-changing, un-caring mockeries of humanity gazed at Sue with basilisk-like eyes. Her hate could not reach them; her pain could not move them. They were the silent totems that the men and women gave her body to as offering, time and time again.

Time had no meaning for Sue's pain. But everything has to end at some point. Sue wasn't aware of when it happened, but gradually the phantoms faded, the screams died and suddenly Sue was aware that she was real again. She was in a bed, lying against a warm body and a blanket was thrown over them both.

"Mary Jane?" Sue asked and was not surprised at all that her voice was so weak.

"I'm right here Sue." Mary Jane replied, hugging her. "I told you I would be."

"Where am I?"

"My room."

"What time is it?"

"We've got about two hours before everyone wakes up."

"Oh." Sue sighed and simply collapsed back into her. "You were right. Without Jan I did cry myself to sleep. But I didn't hug pillows. I tore them to shreds."

"That's nothing to be ashamed about." Mary Jane said. "You've been holding too much in Sue, you had to let it out sooner or later."

"I guess." Sue said.

"I told you my door was open."

"So I crawl into it naked in the middle of the night!" Sue's laugh turned into a choked cry. "It's a wonder I didn't scare you half to death."

"You just needed help." Mary Jane said. "You needed to let it all out."

"I didn't let it all out." Sue said. "It's still in me. It will always be in me." She drew in closer to Mary Jane. "Everytime the kids look at my face and flinch, they do you know, when I catch them off guard... God! This is so sick! We are in danger of our lives and sometimes all I can think of is how ugly I look!"

"You're not ugly." Mary Jane said.

"Don't lie to me Mary Jane." Sue said. She pulled away from Mary Jane and let the blanket fall. "I was beautiful once, now I'm an ugly old lady with scars." She fell back to the bed. "An old lady with scars who's barely holding onto her sanity."

Mary Jane sat up and draped the blanket around Sue's body.

"You're an old lady with scars who's been through so many kinds of hell I can't even imagine most of them. You're an old lady with scars who's saved my family from those hells. You're the woman who somehow managed to survive it all and help others survive it. But Sue." Mary Jane took Sue's chin and moved her face so that they looked at each other. "You don't have to do it alone anymore. Talk it out, don't keep it bottled inside of you." She put her fingers on the scar on Sue's face, holding Sue when the other woman tried to pull away. "And that isn't the problem is it?"

"No." Sue tried again to draw away but Mary Jane held onto her. "From the day I was captured and I realized everyone I ever loved was dead, except for Jan, from the day we reached the camp, from that point on I had to live for survival, and for Jan. I could only have that in my mind. I didn't let myself remember any of the times we had as the Fantastic Four. I couldn't let myself; the pain was too much. And from that day, someday, I can't even tell you when, I haven't."

"Until now." Mary Jane said. "With only you and Jan it was easy to keep them out. But now you have us."

"Nick reminds me of Ben, Rebecca reminds of Johny, May and Ben both remind me of Franklin, and now Victor, God Victor is starting to remind me of Reed! It's too much Mary Jane, I can't take it! It's like their ghosts are dragging me down to hell because..."

"Because you survived." Mary Jane finished when Sue's own shocked voice trailed away. "I know. I felt the same way for years after Peter died. It's much worse for you, you have powers. I never did. It's guilt Sue, and you have to let it go."

"It's my edge!" Sue protested.

"It's crippling you!" Mary Jane insisted. "Let it go."

"If I let it out what will I have left?" Sue pleaded. She started to pull away again. "I don't think there's anything left."

"Sue." Mary Jane stopped her and pulled her back. "If there wasn't anything left you wouldn't have taken care of Jan, you wouldn't have helped us all. That wasn't guilt. That was Sue Storm Richards. You're still in there Sue."

"I wish I could believe that." Sue said.

Mary Jane arranged the pillows so that she was sitting up against the headboard.

"Come here." She said giving a slight tug on Sue's arm. Sue let herself fall into her and Mary Jane wrapped an arm around her.

"We've got time before everyone wakes up." Mary Jane said. "Take that time Sue. Lay back, take a deep breath and just take that time."

Sue took a breath and tried to relax.

"Take a deeper one than that." Mary Jane chided.

"This won't help." Sue protested.

"It won't hurt." Mary Jane said. "Now try again."

Sue took a deeper breath and tried again.

Her room was a mess.

Before Sue's private demons had forced her to Mary Jane's room they had forced her to do battle in her own room. The bed was in pieces; the walls and floor had deep dents and tears in them. Sue stood in the doorway, stunned that she had caused so much damage.

I'd forgotten how dangerous a crazy person is with my sort of power. Sue thought as she picked her way across the room. She reached the dresser and changed into the standard blue jumpsuit that was waiting for her. Then she used her force fields to shove the wreckage into a corner. Some time that day she would find a chance to replace the bed. For now it was enough that she repaired the walls. It's a wonder I didn't kill us all. Poor Mary Jane, I must have scared the hell out of her. I'm glad it's over.

Breakfast was a strange experience for Sue that morning. It had taken time to push the bent metal tears in her wall back into place and more time to compact the wreckage with her force field and move it invisibly out of the building and far into the back of the cavern. Only Mary Jane and Jarvis were still there when she walked into the dining room.

"Good morning Mrs. Richards." Jarvis said.

"Good morning Jarvis." Sue said. She sat down. "Where is everyone?"

"Victor, Jan and May are in the medical unit." Mary Jane said. "They are working on her teeth. Namorita and Mystique are in the control room. With Ben." she added at the look on Sue's face. "Victor asked Ben to do some research for him."

"Ok." Sue said. "I know." She said at the look on Mary Jane's face. "I'm working on trusting her."

"Here you are Mrs. Richards." Jarvis said putting a large plate of food down in front of her. Sue looked at it in surprise. Scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, an English muffin and a large glass of milk. Usually for breakfast Sue had been having the eggs and milk alone.

"Well you do have a good set of teeth now." Mary Jane said smiling at the look on Sue's face.

Sue cautiously took a bite out of the toast. For the first time in a very long time there was no pain.

"Thank you Jarvis." She said.

"You're welcome Mrs. Richards." Jarvis said. His English reserve did not crack as he retreated to the kitchen.

"I think the thought that you've been passing out because of lack of food is sort of insulting to him." Mary Jane said.

"No one can know the truth Mary Jane." Sue said. "Not yet. Not until we're safe."

"I won't tell anyone." Mary Jane said. "But..."

"Jan chomp!" Jan shouted flying into the room.

Sue and Mary Jane looked up surprised as a nude Jan landed on a chair and enlarged to full size. There was a look of childish exultation on her face as she smiled.

"No more pain when I eat!" Jan cried. "Jarvis! Food!"

"Here you are Miss." Jarvis said walking into the room with a tray. On it was a banana split. With a cry of delight Jan started to eat. How he knew to have that ready Sue had no idea.

"I knew I'd find her here." May said. She walked in carrying Jan's clothing. "Jan you gotta remember clothes, what if Ben saw you now?"

"He's wouldn't get any of my ice cream!" Jan said smiling.

"Where is Victor?" Sue asked.

"He's setting up a special re-grow cast for Jan." May said. "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Sue said. "Watch."

Sue started to eat again and there was a self satisfied look on May's face as she did so.

"What is Victor working on?" Mary Jane asked.

"There's a gadget that can hook onto Jan's leg and re-grow her foot." May said.

"What?" Mary Jane looked at Sue.

"It never occurred to me to even look." Sue admitted.

"Jan's gonna run again!" Jan cried causing ice cream to run down her face. May went over to her and cleaned her off.

"I'm gonna go read some more manuals." May declared after Jan's chin was clean. She tossed Jan's clothes on the chair next to her before she ran off.

"For you as well Mrs. Richards." Jarvis said putting a banana split next to her other food.

For the first time in a long time Sue ate a pleasant breakfast.

Ben was reading off of the one of the monitor screens when Sue walked into the control room. In front of him was a long list of names, places and dates.

"Hi." Sue said.

"Hi." Ben answered.

"Where did Mystique and Namorita go?" Sue asked.

"Mystique saw something on the screen that made her cry and Namorita took her to their room." Ben said. "They spend a lot of time together in there."

Sue looked around and saw what had upset Mystique. On one of the monitors was an anti-mutant program for children. A version of Mystique, younger and distorted by the anime style was battling a group of black suited men who looked like the Red Skull's guards. Sue turned the monitor off.

"That's their business. What are you doing?"

"Mr. Doom asked me to track him down some lawyers." Ben said.

"Lawyers?" Sue asked.

"Yea." Ben handed her the list. In Victor's ultra-neat handwriting was a series of names, most of which Sue remembered. Judges, lawyers, lawmakers, the cream of the legal crop that had fought the Grey's and then the government's anti-mutant campaign.

"Have any luck?" Sue asked, handing the list back to him.

"Not until I decided to start checking paper obits." Ben said. "Then I found a lot of them. Mostly heart attacks, some muggings that turned bad... I think a lot of it is phony."

"Probably." Sue said. "Jan and I were listed as dead." Sue pulled over a chair and sat down. "There is a trick to doing this sort of search. Want me to show you?"

"Sure." Ben said moving over.

"What's the first name on your list that died because of a heart attack?" Sue asked.

"Barbara Gordon." Ben read. "She was a congresswoman from Dakota."

"Ok." Sue called up the obituary. "Write this down. Height 5 feet 6 inches, red hair, green eyes, age unknown, died in Virginia."

"Got it." Ben said.

"Now we call up the labor camp for Virginia. Start with the next day and scroll through the new arrivals."

Ten minutes later Sue stopped the list and pointed to one of the names.

"Betty Kane." Sue said. "Mutant sympathizer. Height 5'6", red hair, green eyes. That's her."

"So instead of killing her they put her in a labor camp? Why?"

"There could be a lot of reasons." Sue said. "She could have a rare blood type, they might think she knew something, also if she turned out to have friends in important places they could produce her alive."

"But someone had to give the order to kill her." Ben said.

"Right, and that someone might have a boss who didn't want her killed. So instead of killing her, which is rather final, they stuff her into a camp and if she turns out to have important friends, or friends who will someday be important, they can haul her out, claim it was all a mistake and that's that."

"Is that why they didn't kill you and Jan?"

"No." Sue said. "They just forgot about us I think."

"Wow, that's lucky."

Yea, it was like winning the lottery. Sue held her tongue but Ben's directness was disconcerting at times.

"Did you know my father?" Ben asked suddenly.

"Yes I did." Sue said.

"He ever fight Galactus?"

"No." Sue said with a laugh. "Your father left the cosmic menaces to us and the Avengers."

"Oh."

"Don't be disappointed Ben." Sue said. "I would have traded foes with him in a second."

"Did you see him a lot?"

"Yes." Sue leaned back in her chair. "The Baxter Building had a good view of the city and I used to see him swinging around all the time."

"Cool." Ben said. He looked at her uncertainly for a moment. "Can you help me with the rest of this list?"

"Alright." Sue said.

For the rest of the morning and into the afternoon Sue and Ben moved through database after database. Though the Sentinels and the Greys were officially anti-technology their computer records were incredibly complete. While they searched Sue answered question after question about Spiderman. On one level she didn't mind, Ben deserved to know just what sort of hero his father was. But on another it was like walking through your house after it had been burned down. Sue had to remember a time when she liked the world, and the world had seemed to like her back.

The list of names didn't really help much. Most of the people on the list were truly dead, but many were in labor camps and many more were listed as "Special Cases". Sue had no idea what that meant but she doubted those people were having a good time. Sue was relieved when Mary Jane called them both for dinner. More news was waiting for here there. A full sized Jan was sporting a full leg and foot cast and Victor told them that with-in two weeks Jan's missing foot would be re-grown. It was a miracle that made Sue happier than she had been in over a decade. But Victor next told them all that by the end of the next day he be able to tell how long it would take the fix the hyperdrives. Sue didn't miss the look that Namorita gave her.

Sue was looking at a read out when Mary Jane came into the control room.

"What's this?" Mary Jane asked.

"Just helping Ben out." Sue said. He wants to know what "Special cases" means."

"He does or you do?" Mary Jane asked.

"A little of both I guess." Sue said. "I'm not changing my mind Mary Jane. I still think the safest place for us is off of this planet."

"We haven't heard Victor's plan yet." Mary Jane pointed out.

"I know." Sue said. She leaned back in her chair. "God I'm tired."

"I thought you would be." Mary Jane said. "Come on, let's get to bed."

"What?" Sue looked up at her. "Mary Jane last night..."

"Sue." Mary Jane interrupted. "I saw your room."

"Oh. Well I put a new bed in after lunch."

Mary Jane sighed.

"Look Sue you have three choices right now. You can come with me and sleep in my bed, and maybe make it through the night, I can come with you and sleep with you in your bed, and maybe you can make it through the night, or you can go to your room and try to sleep alone, in which case you'll just be climbing into my bed later on after another round of nightmares." Mary Jane handed Sue a nightgown. "I think it'd be better if you took choice number one, at least for the next few nights."

"I..." Sue started to speak and then stopped.

"Please? I don't want Ben to see you walking around naked again."

"He saw me?" Sue gasped the question out and realized she was blushing.

"He isn't sure." Mary Jane said. "You kept fading in and out, but next time..." she extended the nightgown again. "Please?"

Sue reached over and shut off the monitor. Then she stood up and took the nightgown.

"Well, I guess... you right Mary Jane. But you've got three kids to take care off..."

"And you're acting like the forth." Mary Jane said. "And you know it." She took hold of Sue's arm and gave a little tug. "Now come on."

Sue hadn't slept alone since Jan had started sleeping with May. Before that her separations from Reed had always been short. It was different sleeping with someone. Sue hadn't realized how much of a difference that was until she woke up from the nightmare and reached for Mary Jane. Even in her panic Sue reached over gently, years of sleeping with Jan had taught her to do that. So instead of clutching tightly at Mary Jane's hand Sue just took hold of it. Not seeming to stir Mary Jane tightened her grip and Sue relaxed.

It had been a new nightmare this time. Sue didn't remember the details, and she really didn't want to remember them. She was tired of nightmares.

Shifting her position Sue put her arm over Mary Jane and laid her head against the other woman's chest. The strong steady sound of Mary Jane's heart and the sounds of her lungs taking in and letting out air filled Sue's ears.

God what am I doing here? Sue thought. I'm over forty and I'm clinging to Mary Jane like May would. Even as she scolded herself Sue did not move. She could no sooner of let go of a life raft at sea as she could have moved her head from Mary Jane's chest. Is there enough left in me to save them? Do they even need me today? I wasn't as tight today, wasn't as focused, I lost track of Mystique and Namorita, nothing happened. Have I been fooling myself that I'm the only thing standing between them and the Sentinels? God tomorrow I have to decide if they stay or if Namorita and I have it out and I lock her up. Another fight. I don't want another fight, I've done so much fighting... and Victor's grand plan? What is he up too? What is he thinking? God Reed I need you! Just for a few minutes... just to talk this all out. And what the hell is "Special cases"? What did the Greys do to those people? Is it the same thing they did to me and Jan? Will Jan be able to walk again...?

Sue's thoughts only abated when sleep once again claimed her. Mary Jane sighed gratefully as sleep robbed Sue's grip of its power. Then she carefully shifted her position to get more comfortable. When she was certain Sue was not going to wake up again that night Mary Jane allowed herself drift off to sleep.

There was a tense atmosphere in the room. There had been one hanging around all of them all day and it centered around and originated from Sue and Namorita. Victor worked in the ships, alone. Sue split the day with Ben providing an invisible force field "net" as he practiced web slinging from the ceiling of the base and then with him doing more research. They were becoming more and more used to the Greys/Sentinels database, and the names were becoming easier to track down. Many of them were actually dead, a few were listed as "Pacified", a phrase that chilled Sue, but many more were listed as "Special Cases", a designation that puzzled Sue. The people were not mutants, nor did they have any history of mutation in their family tree nor any trace of the X gene in their blood. Nothing singled them out but the fact that their opposition to the current state of affairs was intransigent. Sue would have guess that they would be in labor camps like the one she and Jan had been in. But they weren't. Those listed as Special Cases were simply sent to a facility in Nevada marked "Study Area A" and no more was mentioned of them. Sue and Ben had used the Kree spy satellite to take a look at the place. Study Area A was simply another name for the University of Nevada. But now the campus was surrounded by a stone wall and armed guards. But there was no sign of any of the harsh treatment Sue expected.

It was a puzzle, but that puzzle was put aside when they gathered that afternoon in the dining room. It was late afternoon. Jarvis had put out some food for them all, and extra food for Sue. He seemed determined to put a few extra pounds on her now that she could eat normally. Sue enjoyed the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but kept eye on Namorita. Sitting across from her Namorita did not eat.

When Victor finally walked in Sue watched him closely. There was no sign that he was enjoying the tension, something Sue had suspected might be the case. He merely walked into the room and placed a portable holographic generator onto the table.

"I have concluded my study of the Kree hyperdrives and their repair." Victor said. Above the generator appeared a set of badly cracked and shattered crystals. "These are the crystals in Hero's Ark, the crystals in the other ship are in the same condition. Suffice to say they are not functional."

"Isn't there any spares on the base?" Ben asked. "If they got the dry-docks they should have spare parts for everything."

"I believe they did at one point." Victor said. "And I have surmised the reason that none exist in the containers I have found. Susan, when the Fantastic Four found this place you reported that you found all the Kree and Skrull warriors dead?"

"With their hands wrapped around each others throats." Sue said.

"But you found no Skrull ship or signs of damage to the entrance?"

"No." Sue thought for a moment. "None at all, funny we didn't think of that at the time, but Reed was so exited about a chance to study the Kree technology..."

"His curiosity sometimes caused him to overlook the obvious." Victor said when she trailed off. Sue heard no malice or scorn in his voice. "The Skrull's ability to change their body shape have aided them much in their battles against the Kree. The Kree, in turn, have become experts at detecting a Skrull no matter what shape they take."

"They were the crystals?" Ben asked.

"No, they were the containers that held the crystals." Victor said. "The one cargo above all that the Kree technicians would handle the most carefully. The infiltrators held themselves in that shape while the base was being supplied and then emerged to take over. I believe they failed because of the two ships."

"There were more Kree than they thought." Sue said. "Now that I think about it the body count did seem to be even."

"In the process of that battle all of the spare crystals were destroyed." Victor said.

"You mean the hyperdrives can't be fixed?" Namorita asked.

"No. The Kree built their ships with extreme care, and this particular model specifically so. Immersed into the proper solution and with the proper energy pulse directed at them the crystals will grow once more. Then it will simply be a matter of re-aligning their matrixes."

"How long will this take?" Sue asked. She was ready for a fight and so was Namorita.

"Aproximately 3 months." Victor said.

"Three months!" Namorita exclaimed jumping up.

"Hold it!" Mary Jane shouted as Sue leapt out of her seat. By the moral authority of a mother she held the two women apart. "Sue, Namorita, sit down and we'll talk about this."

Slowly they sat down.

"You still don't trust me?" Namorita asked.

"No." Sue said. "I trust you. I don't trust Namor."

"I won't tell him." Namorita said.

"He'll accept that." Sue replied with a voice so heavy with sarcasm it could have broken the table. "He doesn't own me Sue."

"He's monarch of Atlantis, you are one his subjects, by definition he owns you."

"She could lie." Jan suggested.

"What sort of lie would satisfy him?" Sue asked. "He knows you went into space."

"No he doesn't." Namorita said. "He knows someone went into space.

"She's right." Victor said. "I have read the reports that the Greys troops filed. They were unable to find out who made it to the space ship."

"So where has she been all this time?" Sue demanded. "Why no contact?"

"I was hurt and in the jungle." Namorita suggested. "With Mystique taking care of me we made it across the continent to the water."

"And the ones who attacked the Red Skull?" Sue demanded. "The Greys know I was there, so will Namor."

"I'll tell him you busted out Doom and in the confusion Mystique and I made a run for it." Namorita said. "I'll say that I only saw you for a few minutes and aside from breaking our chains and Mystique's collar you didn't say anything to us."

"It seems a plausible plan Susan." Victor said. "Far better than keeping her here, especially since neither Nick nor I have decided whether or not to stay on this planet or go with you."

Sue sat back in her chair.

It could work, and I can't keep her here. Well I could, but I'm the only one who seems in favor of that. God, I'm arguing with Dr. Doom to let someone go! If that doesn't tell me how much Victor has changed, hell how much I've changed nothing does. But the risk... even Victor doesn't realized what would happen if we got caught. Sue let her eyes roam around the table. The looks she got told Sue that she truly stood alone on this issue. I can't lock all of them up. Letting her go is crazy, or is it? This is what comes from sleeping with Mary Jane, I've lost the edge, but I can't keep hating everyone forever! The hell with it! It's time I shared the load.

"Ok." Sue said. "This isn't really my decision to make alone. Two weeks ago it was, but a lot has changed since then."

"You've gotten us this far." Rebecca said.

"I wasn't a queen Rebecca. I made the choices and Mary Jane agreed because we both knew there weren't any other alternatives. I got us here, that I did on my own, but after that, leaving the planet; rescuing Victor, that was all of us. This has to be all of us again."

I don't want the responsibility. Sue left that thought unsaid.

"Direct democracy?" Victor asked? "We vote on Namorita and Mystique staying or leaving?"

"That's right." Sue said.

"So all of you get to decide if I go free or not?" Namorita asked.

"All of us are the ones who got you that freedom in the first place." Rebecca said. "But if it's a vote then I say yes; let her go. I trust them."

"Me too." May said.

"Vic and me have spent too long with them not to trust them." Nick said.

"Jarvis?" Sue asked.

"I trust her." Jarvis said from the doorway. "I trust them both."

"Ja..." Sue started to ask but Jan had fallen asleep in her chair.

"She's been sleepy a lot lately." May said. "I think it's the cast. But I think she'd say yes."

"I'd trust them." Ben said.

"Well Mary Jane?" Sue asked turning to her.

"I do to." Mary Jane said.

Great, so now I have to trust her and god help Namorita if she betrays that trust.

"Doesn't this thing ever run out of gas?" Rebecca asked as Sue started the Quinjet's engines.

"One of the last innovations from Stark Industries was a hydrogen fuel system that re-charged itself." Sue said. "Tony and Reed developed a system that could create hydrogen gas from the atmosphere. It takes time, but the Quinjet has had enough time."

Rebecca whistled in amazement.

"Yea, it was the perfect solution to the energy problems. They were still going through the prototype process when they were murdered."

"She all set to go?" Mary Jane called climbing into the Quinjet.

"All set." Sue said. "Are they making their good-byes?"

"Yep."

"Good, I'll be back in about two days." I left the codes I'll use in an envelope on your bed."

"I really want to come." Rebecca said.

"If we run into problems I'll be better off alone." Sue said.

"I can handle myself now." Rebecca protested. "No guy's gonna..."

"Don't say that." Sue said sharply. "Heroines say that just before they loose."

"I'm better." Rebecca said stubbornly.

"I was too." Sue said. "It didn't matter, it doesn't matter, you can always loose."

"But..."

"Patience Rebecca." Mary Jane said. "Remember, Nick told us it took your father years to get really good, you've only been training a while. Give yourself time."

Sullenly Rebecca got up and left the Quinjet.

"It might be a good idea for you to help her with her training when you get back." Mary Jane said.

"There's nothing like getting rap... beat to keep you humble." Sue said. "If I come back I'll help."

They heard a noise and looked back to see Namorita and Mystique getting into the Quinjet.

"If I don't come back Mary Jane I think you can trust Victor."

"I do trust him." Mary Jane said. "I've been watching him when he's with Ben and May. But you will be back Sue."

Sue turned away and hit a few more switches. The whine of the engines became louder. Mary Jane put her hand on Sue's shoulder, gave one squeeze and then withdrew.

There was no convenient storm this time. Sue left the cavern in the arctic morning and kept the Quinjet invisible. She moved so slowly and so close to the ground that penguins sniffed the air as they went by. Keeping to the valleys and in the shadows of mountains Sue made her way across the frozen continent, past the Cape of Good Hope and into Africa. She landed in a clearing a half mile from the coast.

"We're set." Sue said as the night fell. She stood at the entrance to the Quinjet and pointed. "The Atlantic is that way."

After weeks of the processed air of the Kree base the heady humid air at the jungle felt oppressive. Sue wanted nothing more to get away before someone spotted her.

"Thanks." Namorita said. "For getting us out of the Red Skull's palace and for trusting us."

"Namorita." Sue said as Mystique and Namorita turned to go. "I do trust you both. But I'm warning you, if you betray that trust, if you or Mystique ever show up at the base, if you put Mary Jane, Rebecca, Ben, May, Jan, Victor, Nick, Jarvis in danger by going back there, then I will kill you and who ever you bring with you. They are all I have left and I will shatter Atlantis to a million pieces to keep them safe. Understand that."

"We do." Namorita said. "You don't have to worry about us."

Like hell I don't. Sue thought as she watched them vanish into the jungle. She closed the hatch and watched on the scanner as the two women got to the ocean. I just don't have any choice.

...to be continued.

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