Victor woke in his room. It felt as if a cat crawled into his mouth, took a shit then died in there a week ago. He turned his head slowly to blink at the lamp on the stand next to his bed trying to remember how he wound up here.
His thoughts were still hazy, looking down at the needle in his arm. Victor’s eyes followed the clear tubing up to a plastic bag full of chemicals slowly drip, drip, dripping into his blood stream. He felt he should be pissed about this, but Victor feels too warm to really care at the moment or even to work up the effort to care.
Suddenly, his bedroom door opens.
But it’s not Jimmy come to visit him. It’s Wade, who enters smirking. He was dragging a cheap folding chair with him that he slams down on the floor by Victor’s head.
Victor wondered if there is some kind of irony in this that he couldn’t remember.
Wade propped his elbows on the bed, resting his chin on top of his hands. “Oh, Victor,” he chided, clucking his tongue at his colleague. “Poor, stupid Victor. How could you not see this one coming?”
“Wha’ are you talkin’ about, Wilson?” Victor slurred. The scent of Jimmy was in the air. He had to be around here somewhere. “Jimmy? Wher’… wher’ ar’ y’Jimmy?”
Wade reached out to lightly stroke the top of Victor’s head. “What made you think for one second that Stryker was going to let you keep your brother?” He tipped his own head to one side. “You know, I was kind of shocked when Stryker told me that Logan was the more valuable of the two of you. But then I snuck a peak at the plans, and, wow! Big things are coming our way, Victor. Especially for Jimmy. But not for you, I’m afraid. Apparently, you don’t play a part in Stryker’s Big Plan.”
“Qui’ talkin’ shit, Wilson,” Victor groaned, trying to roll over. But his body refused to listen, so he settled for staring at the ceiling.
Cobra quick, Wade’s lips were by Victor’s ear. “By the time this is all over, your little brother won’t remember you even existed. But don’t worry; I’ll take good care of Jimmy for you.” Wade is chuckling softly, his voice full of lustful promise. “Hey, any tips for me? Anything special your little brother likes to do in the bedroom? ‘Cause I want our first time together to be special, you know? And I will enjoy pounding little Jimmy into the mattress, Vic-“
Wade had to dodge the claws that made a serious effort at swiping at him. Lithe as a dancer, he backed out of the room. Wade popped his head back into the room. “Hey, seriously though, thanks for breaking Jimmy in for me,” he said cheerfully. “I mean, I got him drunk one night a few years back, and whoo! Jimmy had no idea how to kiss. But I snuck a quick taste this morning, and my god I could have come in my pants like a virgin getting his first feel from that alone. Not sure about the whole incest thing, but if this is the outcome who am I to judge?” And with that, Wade disappeared from sight. So, that’s where Jimmy’s scent was coming from, Wade’s shirt.
Victor’s lips moved as he tried to form words. He glared again at the needle in his arm, then had the brilliant idea to remove it.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before he can stand, but Victor slowly got to his feet. He took a couple of steadying breaths, clinging to the mattress as the room spun and threatened to dump him on the floor. Grunting, he stood up straight and walked very slowly towards the door, one foot in front of the other. The realization that the scent of Jimmy had been coming off of Wade’s shirt griped Victor’s thoughts a second time and brings his thoughts into focus.
Wade has been touching Jimmy.
Suddenly, it was very important to find his little brother right away.
Wade had been kissing Jimmy.
Victor briefly wondered if there would be time to kill Wade and Stryker before they left. No, it was more important to get Jimmy as far from this horrid place as possible.
Jimmy was not in the usual places, his room or the eating area. He was not in front of the television or hiding in the showers.
Victor found Jimmy locked away in a padded room, his arms bound at his sides in a fucking straight jacket with his hands clearly bent in a manner to keep him from using his claws. Jimmy was slowly, softly banging his head against the floor. He was not exactly crying, but there were definite whining noises coming out of his throat that occasionally give way to angry growls. Jimmy and Logan were struggling for control of the body.
Victor never hated his father more than he did right now. And this wasn’t even really his father in front of him.
No, this was his little brother, who was completely bat shit insane.
Victor sank to his knees beside Jimmy and tipped his little brother’s face up to look at him. Jimmy’s eyes were tinged red with the madness that was consuming him. “Victor,” Jimmy gasped, pleading. “Please, get me out of here. My arms hurt so much. And Logan won’t shut the fuck up.” Jimmy shifted to curl up against Victor, who instinctively wrapped himself around his little brother’s broken body. “Why won’t he shut up? We need to get-no no no. Shut up. Shut up! Please shut the fuck up! You’re wrong. You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!”
Years later Victor will look back on this moment and wonder what he should have done differently. Maybe he could have saved Jimmy from the terror that was to come.
Instead, he listened to Stryker.
“You can’t help him, Victor,” Stryker said quietly from the doorway. Victor turned his head to see Stryker leaning against the frame, his hands tucked under his arms. The bastard at least had the decency to look sorry for them.
“Look, he just needs a little sorting out,” Victor mumbled into Jimmy’s hair. “If you had let me take him home-“
“He would still be as crazy as he is now, except he probably would have hurt himself or worse. Your brother is unwell, Victor. It was only a matter of time before James snapped. This kind of thing doesn’t just happen overnight, Victor.” Stryker was wheeling and dealing now. “If this hadn’t happened now, it was going to happen eventually. But at least when it happened, he was in a controlled environment. We have ways of making him better. It’s just a few simple adjustments that we need to do. But I promise you this is all for his own good. You need to trust us now. You’ve done everything you can for James, now it’s our turn.”
Victor raised his eyes to glare at Stryker. “What about Wade? He told me you’re going to take Jimmy away from me, that I wouldn’t be allowed to see him again-“
“Now, Victor, why would we do that? You two need each other. True, he will have to go away for a little while-“ Stryker quickly raised his hands as Victor bared his teeth at him. “It’s just until Jimmy gets better. You’re no doctor Victor. And James needs very special help right now. I’m going to make sure he gets it.” Stryker reached out to pat Victor’s arm. “Listen, he’ll be getting the first procedure in the morning. Why don’t the two of you spend the night together? I’ll turn off the cameras. Dr. Cornelius has an injection that keeps Jimmy in control and… well, the easiest way to describe it is that Logan goes to sleep. Enjoy your night together, and soon the world will be a much better place.”
There was a flurry of movement as they came in to give Jimmy his shot, but all Victor could sense is his little brother’s distress. Jimmy cried out in pain when Dr. Cornelius pushed the needle into his arm. Victor watched in confusion at the small bead of blood on Jimmy’s arm that welled up. He reached out and wiped it away with two fingers, only to have another bead of blood replace it before the wound sealed shut. They had done something that has slowed down Jimmy’s healing.
Dr. Cornelius was kind enough to remove the straight jacket before he left the two brothers alone in the darkened cell, shutting the door as he left. They were effectively trapped inside.
Suspicious that Wade would try to watch them through the small window in the door, Victor maneuvered Jimmy to the other side of the room, tucking his little brother’s trembling body underneath him. Their hands began to roam over each other’s bodies. Jimmy was quickly frustrated and started pulling at their clothing. Soon they were both bare to the world, caressing each other.
Jimmy seemed particularly fascinated with Victor’s face, constantly running his fingers over each outline, trying to memorize him by touch alone. The two kissed, licked, and nipped each other. Victor sat with his back against the wall as Jimmy gently fondled him to hardness. His little brother rose up on his knees, straddling him, before lowering down and pushing Victor inside of him. Jimmy hissed in pain, clutching at Victor’s shoulders. But it was only a momentary lapse before Jimmy was thrusting up and down.
They both tried to pretend that it’s not there, but both brothers were desperate for this to not end.
Victor had his brother several times that night, twice with Jimmy on his back. He wanted to be gentle with him now, to make sure that his most recent memories of Victor were pleasant, so Jimmy would come seek him out once he was better.
Too soon morning came, and it was a whirl wind of motion as Victor was quickly shuffled out of the room. He could hear Jimmy’s terrified screams for him, Logan’s angry berating Jimmy for being so weak. Stryker placed a firm hand on Victor’s shoulder and led him away from Jimmy. “He’s going to be all right,” Stryker soothed. “This is just his illness talking.”
“Victor! Victor, don’t let them do this to me! You don’t know what they’re going to do!”
It’s the last thing he will hear his brother say to him for nearly seven years. It will be closer to ten before his brother forgives him.
But Victor doesn’t know this yet.
Victor didn’t even turn around to give Jimmy a last look before he was strapped to a gurney and be taken to the lab where they will… fix him.
One day, Victor will regret this. But not today.
Today, Victor allowed himself to be led by Stryker down a series of halls into a strange sub basement room he has never seen before. Victor was barely through the door before a young man was pressing a gun-like device full of a clear substance against his upper arm and the chemicals were in his blood stream. For his trouble, the young man wound up with claw shaped scars across his face.
Guards manhandled Victor into a metal chair, to which they strap him down by his ankles, wrists, and waist. Victor tried to struggle, but the drugs were quick.
Soon, he was unable to move, his head lolling on his chest.
“Stryker, you bastard,” he slurred.
Stryker only smirked at him. “You see, Victor, you have become superfluous as well as dangerous to my project with your brother. We can erase his memories to a point, but there is just too strong a chance that you are going to undo all of our work with James if he were ever to see you again.” Stryker forced Victor to look him in the eye. “But don’t worry. We aren’t going to kill you, at least not yet. We’re just going to suspend you for a while. Perhaps once we get James stabilized, and if we should happen to have a use for you, we’ll bring you out of suspension. But we need to focus on getting James to where we need him to be.”
“You… used… me,” Victor said deliberately. Words were so hard to string together.
“Of course we did, Victor. That’s what we do. This is a war, and I need the best weapons. Unfortunately, for you, your brother is just the better option.” Stryker turned and began to walk away. “But James is now in very capable hands. By erasing his memory, we get rid of the unfortunate personality flaws you brought out in him. And Wade will take very good care of James.”
Victor at least made a minimal effort to struggle as Stryker started punching some buttons on a console. A piece of glass comes came in front of Victor.
There was the brush of cold against the back of his neck and then
Stryker couldn’t wait until the war on the mutants was over. Of course, he would keep a select few under his control. James, most definitely; Wade would be kept if he could also be brought under control. Perhaps North too, would be kept around.
Stryker tapped the glass separating him from the frozen monster behind the glass. Yes, this was truly for the best.
Now, to go deal with James.
