Work Text
Scott is close to screaming in his mind.Facedown and shackled on a lab table, he tries to take inventory of every sound and smell, each footstep and slammed drawer, anything that might enable an escape or a rescue, instead of shouting for Jean, who’s probably miles away, or Professor Xavier, who might already be…“You’re one of Xavier’s success stories, aren’t you?” a man’s unfamiliar voice asks, somewhere above him. “The perfect toy soldier, made to follow orders. I’ll make sure he knows how easy it was to break you.”Scott clenches his teeth, knowing that he’ll need every ounce of mental strength to withstand whatever comes next.A needle stings the back of his neck, and he floats unexpectedly into something like a dream. Even when he hears the man’s – Stryker’s – instructions, feelings like terror and rage and shame seem far away. They resurface, for a moment, when Scott sees Jean in the underground corridor, but before his lips can form her name, or a warning, or I’m sorry, his hand touches the knob on his visor and sends a blast of energy toward her.It doesn’t knock her down, and she somehow understands. “Fight back!” she cries, but trying is like swimming against a riptide. “Please, I need you!”The words echo inside him, become I need you to stop me, and before he goes under again, all he can do is scream them into her mind.