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A Place in this World
by Vicki Lew
May 1999

Chapter 7

A rude bump on the head roused her from her drugged stupor; it took quite a while before she realised that she was inside a vehicle, and they were on the move. Pain rode up her right leg as feeling came back into her limbs and she whimpered softly, attracting unwanted attention from her captors.

"She's up, wanna put her out again?"

"No need, we're almost there. Just round the corner. It'll take her another hour before she can move normal anyway."

Sabine's eyes rolled around in their sockets, unable to focus for too long on anything. They stopped with a jarring movement, and the two men grasped her arms roughly, hauling her out of the van. No heed was paid to her injuries, causing tears to well up in her eyes at the searing discomfort.

The path down the corridor seemed to last forever. She managed to note the presence of multiple cells, and a quiet panic seized her, but she was unable to express it; the tranquilliser still in her system. At last the men stopped, and she heard the hissing of hydraulic doors opening. She opened her mouth to protest but her throat was too parched, and no sound surfaced.

Her captors gave her one last look, then, with a hard pitch, hurled her into a room with no windows.

"Any leads?"

Henry McCoy shook his head wearily. Gambit emptied his last cigarette from its box and lit up, dragging long and hard from it.

"Dey couldn' have disappeared," he pointed out and looked up as Jean Grey hurried into the room.

She tossed a print-out onto the table and spoke. "I managed to get a look at the guy in the front seat of the van."

The others gathered round and examined the print-out, focusing their attention on the picture ID.

"Gyrich."

Poor Randolph Gedrick.

Her only friend of sorts. He brought her books and remembered her birthdays. He had little conversations with her, though short, but always a small comfort and welcomed.

She sat huddled in the tiny square of light- the only light in that windowless cell- and scraped at the dried blood that had crusted along the side of her face, tears flowing down her cheeks silently, painting clean tracks amidst the grime on her skin. Her hands trembled as she rubbed her fingers together, turning the blood crusts into carmine dust.

Then she wondered what became of Randolph's body. Did the men in black get rid of it, or did the X-men put him to rest? Or was he still lying there, fresh snowfall covering his stiff body, where he would remain hidden, unknown, spirit lingering restlessly until spring arrived and the ice melted, revealing his deformed corpse?

Sabine didn't want to think about it, but the memory of Gedrick's violent death haunted her. Her body shuddered violently as she slid to the floor in a foetal position and cried her heart out.

Poor Randolph Gedrick.

"I have to admit, you people are quite efficient," Senator O'Connor removed his gaze from the monitor and took out his chequebook from his coat pocket and began writing. "I like efficient people, so you can be assured of my continuous support, financial and otherwise."

John Gyrich smiled smugly and cleaned the lenses of his spectacles. "Why, thank you, Senator," The older man put his pen down and tore the paper from its perforation, handing it over to Gyrich. "And 'Why, thank you' again, sir."

O'Connor put away his things and leaned back in his seat, drawing his focus back to the monitor, observing his...daughter in her cell. "What do you have planned for her?"

"We're putting her through a health check and mutant DNA streaming, a bug implant procedure, and if needs be, we tame her."

"Then?"

"Then, like all the rest of the inmates, we set her to work, of which there is plenty, according to whatever powers she possesses."

The Senator leaned closer to Gyrich, and spoke in an icy tone, "She is not to escape, Gyrich, I'm counting on you on that."

Gyrich gave a little laugh and boasted, "No one ever escapes, sir. Not alive, at least..."

They dragged her out of her cell kicking and screaming, before they injected a mild tranquilliser into her, that is. She was stripped naked then pushed into a shower stall, and hosed down like an animal. The wardens dressed in white were particularly cruel, and directed the powerful jets of water at her wounded knee, drawing screams from her, which they seemed to enjoy quite a bit.

It was cold and she shivered uncontrollably, but they couldn't care less and prodded her towards another room undressed. The people there made some fuss over the inhibitor collar she wore and removed it with a laser cutter, storing the gadget for further examination. Sudden nausea came over her and she made a wild guess that it was the effect from the removal of the collar.

Sabine watched in fear as they hurried around, preparing medical equipment. She was helpless, the tranquillisers made her feel as if she had no bones, no nerves. She managed a whine of protest as they strapped her down to an examination table and did a through medical check-up on her.

But she screamed when they injected something into her bloodstream, causing her body to burst into flames of pain. It didn't end there, as soon as that pain ended, another began. Apparently they had tested out the bug they had implanted in her, which sent out an unpleasant charge of voltage to the very bones of her body at a press of a button.

At the end of the ordeal, Sabine didn't need any taming, her eyes had glazed over with pain and hopelessness.

Continued in Chapter 8

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