She comes awake slowly. Too slowly. As soon as she's aware enough to do so, Illyana Rasputin claws her way back to consciousness, eyes fluttering as a snarl twists her face. In an instant, she's up and off of the bed she'd woke up on, hand reaching out and clawing at open air to summon her Soulsword to her.
It comes to her in an instant, materializing in her grasp even as Illyana takes in her surroundings with narrowed eyes. She's not alone in the room, though interestingly enough neither of the other two occupants are armed. Nor is either of them wearing a hated lab coat either.
Her first instinct is to flee. To summon a Stepping Disc and escape back to Limbo. But… she just got out. Or at least, as far as Illyana was concerned, she just got out. Given the last thing she remembered was reappearing back in that dormitory only to be taken down in a humiliating fashion by tranquilizers, Illyana didn't actually know how long it had been… which was infuriating, to say the least.
No, while she refused to be imprisoned again, that also meant she refused to be imprisoned by her own fears as well. She wanted answers more than anything at this point. And seeing as these two were unarmed, she might just be able to get them at long last.
Of course, there's a couple problems with that. First, neither of the other people in the room look all that surprised that she's woken up. Meaning that they woke her up on purpose. Second, one of them is a big man… and Illyana means BIG. His size reminds her of vague, half-forgotten memories of her brother Piotr, and it's obvious that this man is very, very strong.
The other, a blonde woman, is clearly some rich bitch based on what she's wearing and how she holds herself. Illyana narrows her eyes at both of them, waiting for either one of them to speak. To her mild surprise, it's the man who breaks the silence. She would have thought him to be the silent enforcer, not the one to take charge.
"Illyana, are you alright?"
American, she notices immediately. If it wasn't for her experiences in Limbo, she wouldn't even know English… but she'd had to learn to be able to communicate with some of her instructors and allies. The man's concern also seems genuine at a surface level, something that… itches at her in a strange way.
"Who are you? Where am I?"
The woman speaks up then, further confusing Illyana about just who of the two of them is in charge here.
"You're just outside of New York City, in America."
The man takes a step forward, which prompts Illyana to point the Soulsword at him and narrow her eyes.
"Stay. Back."
He immediately stops moving… almost eerily so in fact. Illyana can't help but notice how he doesn't even stutter step, he simply goes still the moment she points her blade in his direction. Holding up his hands to show he means no harm, the man speaks slowly, as though talking to a cornered animal.
"I don't know how much you remember or know about your circumstances, Illyana. You were taken by an organization called the Red Room that operated out of first the Soviet Union and then more recently Russia. They kidnapped you with intentions of turning you into their weapon. But before that could happen, you disappeared… only to reappear mere moments later as a woman grown. They captured you then and put you in a coma."
Gesturing to himself and the blonde, the man smiles. It's a handsome smile, Illyana can't help noticing.
"The Red Room recently came onto our radar and we decided it needed to be shut down. As of this moment, it no longer exists. I'm afraid all of the people who did this to you are already dead as well. But once we got you back here, we woke you up as soon as we deemed it safe to do so."
Lips thinning out and eyes narrowing even further, Illyana flares her nostrils.
"How long?"
The man and woman exchange glances. Illyana hadn't failed to notice how they only answered one of her original questions. If she believed the woman, then she was in America outside of the 'Big Apple'. But they hadn't told her who they were… only who they'd fought to get her.
"You were in a coma for a year, I'm afraid."
A year. It feels almost surreal. All that time in Limbo, struggling for her life, for her very soul against Belasco. She'd grown up in that damned hellscape, learning at the feet of both her greatest enemy and some of the greatest women she'd ever met. And finally, she'd conquered her power, cast out Belasco, and conquered Limbo for good measure.
Only to return to her world and be immediately put into a coma for a year. An entire fucking year. Un-fucking-real. What was the state of Limbo at this point? Had Belasco managed to sneak back in? No… no, if he had, if he'd regained any semblance of power whatsoever, he would have come for her while she was weak and defenseless, held by some magicless bastards who had no idea what they had almost done.
Then again… what the fuck did she care? Sure, she didn't want Belasco to get his claws on her again, but she also didn't really want to rule Limbo either. She never had. Of course, that brought to mind the question… what did she want?
At that, Illyana's eyes wander… to the man. And then up and down him as she considers the pros and cons of trying to climb him like a tree. Her face heats up a bit, as does the rest of her body. This though, does not go unnoticed. The man's eyebrow lifts almost challengingly, causing Illyana's blush to deepen.
"You still haven't told me who you are. Or what you want with me."
The man and woman exchange yet another look with one another, something that Illyana is getting a bit tired of. It's like they're communicating silently with each other each time. But finally, she gets at least a little bit of what she wants.
"My name is Thaddeus."
"And mine is Emma Frost."
Peering at them both for a moment, Illyana snorts at the man, Thaddeus.
"What, no last name for you?"
She's not prodding just for fun, though that's at least part of it. Surnames were purely a human thing in Illyana's mixed experience. None of the demons back in Limbo had a last name, so…
"Ah… it's… Cummings. Thaddeus Cummings."
Oh. Was he embarrassed or something? Illyana snorts in dry amusement, before looking at them both in a new light. Thaddeus Cummings and Emma Frost. She didn't recognize either name from the stories Storm and Cat had told her back in Limbo, so they probably weren't X-Men, were they?
Heh, funny that. For a long time, after being trapped in Belasco and forced to become his apprentice, Illyana had hoped it would be the X-Men who would ultimately rescue her. Storm and Cat both told her so many stories about the X-Men and all the good they did back on Earth. She'd figured that they would eventually come and save her too.
… But they never did. No one did. In the end, Illyana had eventually learned that the only one who could save her… was herself. So she did. One step, one sacrifice at a time.
It was honestly better that they weren't with the X-Men. Though perhaps she should at least make sure.
"You two… aren't X-Men, right?"
Another exchanged look, though thankfully for Illyana's patience, this one is much shorter before Thaddeus shakes his head.
"No. We know of them and have… communications with some of them, but neither of us are X-Men. How do you know about them though?"
Ah. That was a fair question… that she really didn't want to answer. These two didn't know about where she'd gone or how long it had really been for her. And frankly, Illyana liked it that way. Plus, she didn't want the X-Men to come after her because they thought she knew something about their long-gone members. Especially… especially when in the end, the blood of both Cat and Storm was on her hands.
Hiding her true feelings regarding that as best she can, Illyana smiles thinly.
"It doesn't matter. Also, I noticed again that you didn't bother answering my second question. What do you want from me?"
This time, it's Emma Frost who answers that.
"Nothing, Illyana. It's not about what we want from you, but rather what we want for you. The Red Room is defunct, but we have their file on you. They faked your death, meaning that your family has no idea you're still alive. You could still return to them… but they would not recognize you."
Illyana flinches at that. She's not sure she would even recognize her family, truth be told. Her father, her mother, her brother. All of them are distant whispers at this point. She was in Limbo so damn long… long enough to become a woman grown rather than the little girl she'd been when they saw her last.
She'd spent more than three times as long in Limbo as she had on Earth. Her childhood was a distant memory at this point.
Clearing his throat before she can fully get lost in her thoughts, Thaddeus draws Illyana's attention back to him.
"You weren't the only one who the Red Room kidnapped, Illyana. We-!"
That's right! Illyana's eyes widen as she remembers the girls! All of the other girls in the dormitory, all of the children she'd been forced to bunk with. In an instant, her Soulsword is lifted up again, pointed at Thaddeus as she hisses.
"What became of all of them? What have you done with them?"
A moment later, she feels some small measure of embarrassment when he just lifts an eyebrow at her as if to say 'really?'. But Illyana doesn't let that embarrassment control her or make her lower her weapon.
"They're safe. They're all safe. From the youngest recruit to the oldest Black Widow. We rescued them all."
Illyana twitches at the words 'Black Widow'. Distant memories, mostly faded, come to the forefront of her mind. She thinks she remembers a bedtime story when she was just a little girl, about how there were no monsters under her bed, because a Black Widow had already taken care of them.
Black Widows were supposed to be a myth, she'd thought. But it seems she was wrong. Apparently, the Red Room was where they were trained. Apparently, Illyana had been taken to become one of them.
As a child, she would have been elated by the opportunity and horrified that Thaddeus and Emma had shut it down. But as a woman who grew up in a place like Limbo at the not-so-tender hands of its former ruler Belasco… Illyana now saw things for what they really were.
Of course…
"And what do you intend to do with all of them, now that they owe you their lives?"
Thaddeus and Emma share another look for a moment before Emma shakes her head.
"Nothing. Just like with you, all we intend is to help them get back on their feet and figure out what they want to do next with their lives. From now on, they make their own choices… the same as you."
Well fuck, either they were trying to lull her into a false sense of security before pulling some other bullshit… or they were actually on the up-and-up. Illyana was used to treachery thanks to her time in Limbo, but this… this situation wasn't one she quite knew what to do with.
"What DO you want to do next, Illyana? And if you don't mind me asking… what happened to you? You seem very mature for your presumed age…"
Illyana huffs at that. Was that their game? To play nice so they could find out more about where she'd been and why she suddenly looked so much older. If she really had been gone for almost twenty years only to reappear mere moments after she left the first time… she shakes her head with a growl.
"I'm not a child. Where I went… I lived every moment of it. I grew up the old fashioned way over the course of eighteen years in that place, regardless of how much time passed back on Earth."
She was still upset about the year she'd spent in a coma though. Those fucking assholes had no right. Unfortunately, if Thaddeus was to be believed, then they were all already dead. Though… that was only if he was to be believed.
Maybe the Red Room wasn't gone. Maybe she wasn't even in America. Tilting her head to the side consideringly, Illyana grunts.
"So then you won't mind if I leave right now."
She watches them both tense up at that and hides her smirk. Now they were going to show their true colors and-
"Alright… but will you at least let us help you get started? Even if you don't want us to know where you're going, we can give you some money. We can also tell you where to find your brother, if you want."
Frowning now at their seeming willingness to let her leave, Illyana grunts, ignoring the part about her brother for the time being. Probably just another emotional hook to get her to stay… right?
"That won't be necessary. I don't need your assistance."
With that, she begins to summon a Stepping Disc beneath her feet that will take her right back to Limbo. Illyana expects to see Thaddeus and Emma trying to stop her. She expects them to make some sort of move to keep her from leaving.
But beyond jolting a bit, they seem content to let her go. And that makes Illyana hesitate for just a second, torn between flight and staying just a little while longer.