nextgenerationmarvel | A Gift Of Blood And Steel (Open to Mansion Folk)

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A Gift Of Blood And Steel (Open to Mansion Folk)

WHO: Stephanie Shaw, Others
WHAT: Stephanie Shaw is taken by Vargas and left out for the people at the Mansion to find.
WHERE: The Mansion gate
WHEN: Early morning
WARNING: Description of trauma and violence.

Stephanie Shaw had called a press conference with as many media outlets as she could access- while it was nominally to clear the air about her legal situation involving Shaw Industries, many wags suspected that she would be admitting to being a mutant like her brother. No doubt it would have been a very dignified moment, well-rehearsed and delivered with equal measures of honesty and tact. Vargas had actually taken the speech off of her. It was impressive enough and had she been able to say those words on a wide stage, they may have had some impact.

She'd never got to the presentation to deliver her message. Vargas had seen to that with his men. A toxin, administered with minimal force through a mere scratch from his blade had removed her mutant powers temporarily, leaving her effectively helpless. Ironic that a woman that could have survived a fall from the top floor of the Empire State Building would be so vulnerable to such a slight wound. But he knew her fiendish powers well, had seen them at that party. Taking her was not difficult. The driver and the attendant had to be slain, but their deaths were quick, virtually painless. It was up to God to judge them now.

He'd made sure she was conscious as far as he could, for the process of making her a suitable gift for her alma mater. She'd tried her best to be defiant, but she was too used to shallow scrapes and minor bruises to be at all prepared for the sensation of dislocation, of cutting. It was important that she be left alive, so he could not use his blade too liberally- and it was unsuitable to engage in dismemberment, as it was difficult to say how long she would be obliged to remain alive from the time she was deposited and the time she was discovered. She'd finally gone unconscious of course, and it would be easier to transport her thus.

Shinobi had said to kill her, of course, but Vargas cared not for his commandments. He had been useful in showing the way to her, no more and no less. He expected that Shinobi's boy would come to kill him and that suited him just fine. This was a holy crusade. He had been chosen as a champion, to show humanity that the mutants could be torn down, defeated.

Dislocated limbs were easier to work into the grill of the gates, a sign stating "The First Among Many" in Latin affixed to the gate above her. She was bloodied, bruised, unconscious and in serious need of medical attention, but she would survive for at least the few hours that would likely elapse between then and the time she was discovered. Twisted bits of metal were made into manacles holding her in place. He'd dressed her in white wrappings, which would slowly turn to crimson as blood seeped. And with that, he left.

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Stephanie for her part wasn't going anywhere. Couldn't, she was in too much pain and despite some brilliantly executed surgery, her body was in too poor shape to support locomotion. In fact, she was almost completely helpless. And that, more than any degree of pain is what finally did her in.

She couldn't even wipe away any of the tears. They'd just sit there, or roll down, or whatever they decided to do.

Having an hour to stew on things did not make Marcelo feel better as he drove to Xavier's. His dark green Tesla responded well to the heavy foot he applied to the gas. Though he did slow down and not run over any of the media or protesters outside of the gates to the school. Tempting as it was.

He had a duffel bag with him, stuffed with things for both of them. He wasn't sure what was needed, but he at least had something with him. When he pulled into the visitor's parking, there was a redhead in a short skirt waiting for him.

Marcelo briefly wondered how the boys at this school managed to study if this woman was a teacher there. He didn't need to explain his presence there, however. She just told him to follow her.

He barely noticed where he was being lead. He was a bit distracted trying to figure out how this could happen. It took a gentle tap on his shoulder for him to realize they were standing outside the medical facility. He thanked the redhead, shifted the duffel bag slightly, and pushed through the doors.

Stephanie could barely even turn her head to see who was there, but when she did, well, it was worth the pain and the embarrassment of being seen with tears in her eyes. She managed a small smile.

"Mi amor" She nearly whispered, her voice hoarse. Her face was more or less inviolate, except for a split lip, but on her arms were large dark bruises. And there was the way she couldn't help but wince slightly every single time she moved. Even breathing kind of hurt.

His stride hitched once Marcelo saw the state Stephanie was in. Though he couldn't stop the relieved smile from actually seeing her. She was alive. She would get better. He could hold onto that for now.

"Querida." He set the duffel bag on the floor by her bed. He gently cupped her face to use his thumbs to wipe away the tears. Then he leaned down to give her a soft kiss.

She responded to the kiss as best she could. She wanted desperately to be able to hold him, to be held by him. But neither was likely to happen.

"You have to promise me one thing, Marcelo." She looked at him very seriously, but there was a desperate, pleading edge. "Don't go looking for this man. Do not try to avenge this. Please."

He had no idea where to put his hands when he stepped back from the kiss. Everywhere but her face looked like it was in pain. He ended up grabbing the side of the bed to give his hands something to do.

His brow furrowed. "Man? One person did this?"

He was having trouble processing that. It also distracted him from being told not to do what he really wanted to do.

"One man. He calls himself Vargas." Stephanie took a sharp breath in. "Shinobi hired him to kill me, but he said something about wanting me to serve as a lesson. I was ... unconscious for a lot of it. I'm told I looked like a human pretzel ..." There was something about that which made her laugh, perhaps only because she was halfway to the stratosphere on pain medication.

"Dr. McCoy tells me I should be able to make a full recovery, though I might have problems with joint pain the rest of my life. It's hard to say for sure. The dislocations were ... very neat, apparently. Hardly any collateral damage around them."

"I..."

He wanted desperately to find this Vargas and make him pay. Though the small rational part of him did point out that if Stephanie was this bad, Marcelo himself would end up a smear.

He closed his eyes to get the mental image of Stephanie getting tortured into a pretzel out of his mind.

"I'll... I'll do nothing." He forced the words out as he opened his eyes again. She asked it of him, he would try to give it. Even if the words spoken made something inside of him shrink down like he was ten years old again.

"I've told the people at the school everything I know about him, which isn't much. He claims to be some sort of chosen, who will redeem the world of the mutant plague." Stephanie winced again a bit as she shifted herself. "He's insane, but not stupid. And I'm only the beginning."

"Marcelo, while I'm here, I need someone to be my eyes and ears. I'm afraid of what might happen with the mutant district." Her jaw set. "He can't- he can't, he won't hurt those people." She set her head back.

"I feel so fucking useless." A pause for a moment. "I am fucking useless right now. I hate it. More than the pain." Pain she could deal with, but this enforced immobility would drive her crazy before long, she was sure of it.

He watched Stephanie move just slightly and wince. He scratched his forehead to try to cover feeling lost.

"So, while you're here, you want me to go back to New York?" He was getting mental and emotional whiplash. He went to reach out to hold her hand and stopped with his hand over hers. He wasn't sure if that would cause her pain, too.

"You're not useless, querida. You've told people about this threat. You are going to have to slow down to my pace, though. Sorry."

Stephanie nodded, though the thought was a difficult one. "You can't abandon your business for me, and someone needs to make sure that the shelter gets what it needs while I'm indisposed. Hopefully I'll be out of here soon."

She managed the tiniest of smiles. "I'll be calling you. Picking up the phone myself even. My phonebearer has a habit of getting nervous and crushing them. And I'll probably be demanding you visit for cuddles."

She didn't care how un-Shaw like that sounded. Not one bit.

Marcelo didn't even notice how un-Shaw-like Stephanie was sounding. He was far more emotionally and mentally drained than he would admit to. He had been up all night desperately searching for Stephanie only to come up empty-handed. Then he got the call and had to wait through an hour of driving to get to her. He had his emotions riding on his skin. He was only processing that he wasn't needed here.

He slowly pulled his hand that had been hovering over hers away.

"All right." His voice was thicker than he would have liked. He bent over to pick the duffel bag off the floor. "I'll get your things to whomever."

"Marcelo ..." She managed to sit herself up, somehow, pain be damned. She frowned slightly. "I need you. Desperately. Don't ever doubt that, no matter how stubborn and self-reliant I try to be."

She looked at him. He was clearly exhausted, from looking for her, probably. Her frown deepened. "I probably sounded like a complete bitch there."

He straightened up with the bag in hand. Marcelo scratched the back of his head with his free hand. He let out a slow breath.

"Not completely, but I was wondering why I rushed here only to get sent away. It could just be that I haven't slept. When you didn't come home or answer your phone..." He trailed off and shrugged.

"I ... I didn't mean you had to go right now." Stephanie replied and shook her head, instantly regretting that as a twinge of pain shot through her neck. They'd have to give her more pain meds soon. She burned through them awfully fast.

"No, what I meant was more ... that in the days to come. I don't know how long I'll be here, at least a week, maybe more. I need your help with keeping an eye on the shelter and the properties around there."

Marcelo blinked and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"Well, now I feel like an abestado. Me perdoa." He didn't even notice the switch to Portuguese.

"You're sleep-deprived and I'm medicated as all hell." She reached her hand over, not able to take his, but hoping he'd get the hint.

"I'll probably get funnier soon. They'll be coming around with more of the good drugs." A tiny smile. "I know the one girl from the shelter, actually."

Marcelo carefully set the bag back on the floor and gently grabbed and held her hand. He tried not to squeeze at all, just have her skin pressed against his.

"Dancing hippos?" He didn't remember what he had seen when he had been laid up in the hospital after running into Stahlman.

"The phone crusher?"

"Her name is Kayla, but yes, the phone crusher." Stephanie couldn't help but chuckle slightly thinking of how loopy Marcelo had been. "Perhaps. I suppose you've taken platypi."

She went ahead and squeeze his hand a little. It hurt, but she didn't care. It felt good to touch him.

"Platypi?" His brow furrowed. He looked at Stephanie with all undue seriousness. "Stephanie, if you have platypi in your underwear, please tell the doctors. I don't want to find them later."

He grinned slightly at his hand being squeezed. "Don't hurt yourself touching this fine specimen of handsomeness. You've got plenty of time to later. After I've slept for a month and you've healed."

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A Gift Of Blood And Steel (Open to Mansion Folk)

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