Charles Xavier stared out of the bay window in his office. Things hadn't been the same at the school since Jean had died. Sacrificed herself for the rest of the team. Scott was dealing by submerging himself into teaching, and working on cars. Logan, well he wasn't sure how Logan was dealing with it. It was never easy to tell how Logan felt about much.
'Time to stop again.'
Charles snapped to attention. That was the third time in the past two months that he'd heard that weary voice in the back of his mind. The voice was so tired. It was closer this time.
"They're tryin' harder.'
Charles heard angst in the tone. He quickly called Bobby, Ororo, and Scott to him.
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Cal turned over in her hotel bed. Tonight was the night, she knew. They would come, and she would hurt them, and make them go away. She stretched fully, shaking off the last remnants of sleep. It was funny how she didn't even feel remorse for what she did anymore. In the beginning she had, but even though it was only a matter of months, that seemed like a lifetime ago. She didn't have time for guilt or remorse anymore.
She dressed, and headed for the bar she'd chosen for the evenings events. Cal parked her bike, and headed into the small bar. She sent out the small push to keep the locals away. She influenced the bartender to sell her the bottle of Cuervo, and made her way to a small table in a shadowy corner. Cal frowned when three people entered the bar, ignoring her mental push. They weren't the ones following her, but they weren't the same as the natives of this place.
One of the men was young, real young. Blonde hair, preppy cute.. The other man was classically good-looking, young smooth face, strange sunglasses covering his eyes. The one woman was black, with pure white hair, and astoundingly beautiful.
'Well, I hope they can take care of themselves, or are at least smart enough to run.' she thought to herself.
"I wish you two would stop drooling over the motorcycle outside." Ororo told the men in her slightly accented English. "It was just a bike." They both looked at her as if she was insane.
"That's not just any bike." Bobby said.
Scott had to agree, "Ororo, that's a 1985 Softtail. It's raked and lowered. That is customized. A Fat Bob front, and rear fenders. Braided stainless steel grips, and a Sampson exhaust." She looked at him blankly. "Anyway, do you think we'll know the person when we see them?"
A bartender had walked over with three beers. "Have you not noticed that besides the bartender, and the woman in the back, we are the only people in here?" Ororo whispered. The men tried to glance casually at the woman in the corner, a half empty bottle of Cuervo on the table next to her.
Cal tried giving the mental push again, but they didn't budge. Sighing, she pushed, and the bartender went into the back of the bar. She would just leave money for the damages. She knew there would be damages. There always were.
The group had been there for about half an hour, when they heard a car drive up out front. The bartender was still in the back restocking. The three X-men were waiting. The door flew open, illuminating several men in the doorway. They didn't even look towards Bobby, Scott, or Ororo. They only had eyes for the woman in the back.
Ororo hissed slightly, "I recognize the front man. He was with Stryker." Scott's eyes narrowed, this was becoming more and more odd. Six men entered the bar. They were all dressed in dark suits, and were large, muscular men. The one that Storm had recognized stepped forward.
"It's time to come back with us Ms. Collier." he said in a menacing voice.
The woman stubbed out her cigarette, and drank her shot of Tequila. She stood slowly, stretching just as slowly. Talking in a slight southern drawl, she sounded highly amused. "Do you think so Mr. Adamson? I was thinking that I was just where I needed to be. Free."
"Ms. Collier, we're trying to over look your negative actions up to this point, but you're making this difficult. Where are Green, Jacobs, and Cohen?"
"Why, I think they got lost Mr. Adamson. I haven't seen them for several days." The woman took a few steps forward. The light hit her, and they were surprised to see how stunning she was. She stood at least 5'10", 170lbs. The black leather pants molded her curves, riding low on her hips. She was wearing a wide metal studded belt with them. She was also wearing a black leather tank top, which zipped up the front, and ended on her ribs, leaving a wide expanse of toned stomach. The amount of skin showing was smooth and tanned. Her smooth light blonde hair was cut in a bob, which was chin length, sleek, and pushed behind her ears. Her lips were full, pink, and moist. She had high cheekbones, and chocolate brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes darkened with something. A fringe of bangs hung on her forehead.
One of the other men moved forward, drawing his weapon. "You stupid bitch! You murdered them!"
"The last time I checked, Mr. Smith, self defense wasn't murder." her mouth had hardened into a thin line. "If we're going to do this, then do it. I'm tired of waiting here."
The men spread out around her.
Scott spoke up quickly, "Whoa guys, do you really want to be doing this?"
The man called Adamson finally looked at the small group. They were the only other people in the bar. "Good lord, we get Collier, and X-Men. Quite the coup."
"Hey, I don't really care who they are. Let's leave the nice folk out of this," the woman said.
"Unfortunately, they're in it now." Adamson smirked. "We've been gunning for them for a long time."
Cal Collier looked at the three whom she hadn't been able to keep out of the bar. She would try to keep them safe. They were obviously something important. She'd have to worry about that later. Right now she had these apes to worry about, and as far as she was concerned, any enemies of the apes were close to being allies to her. She took a deep breath and began.
She ran, and was faster than lightning. As soon as she moved she heard gunshots, and felt a bullet enter her left arm. Damn it that stung! The first thing she did was push Adamson into the man behind him, they both went crashing to the floor, and due to the strength of her push, were knocked unconscious. One of the men at the table had thrown a punch at one of the goons, the other two working on a second goon. That left her two. Cal threw out her right arm, barely concentrating, and sent a small globe of electricity into the man on the left. He flew backward, and she was pretty sure he was dead. She stopped right in front of the last man, at the last minute going into a spinning kick aimed at his head. He flew backwards into the wall, and slumped to the ground, his neck broken. She ended in a crouched position, looking back at the three who had stood up for her. They were in the process of binding the four unconscious men.
Cal walked back to her table, grabbed her bottle of Tequila and her shot glass, and walked to the bar. Setting them on the bar, she lit a cigarette, and inhaled. She poured a shot, and downed it. Then she turned and faced the three strangers.
All three of them were staring at her, and didn't look as shocked as they should.
"You're bleeding." The sunglass man told her.
Cal looked down and saw blood oozing from a bullet wound in her bicep. She shrugged, "Yeah, I'll live. At least it didn't ruin any clothing this time. It'll be fine." The woman called Collier grabbed some napkins and started dabbing at the blood.
"Why were those guys trying to grab you?" Storm asked.
"You might say they're interested in certain abilities I possess. Before I knew what they were, I signed up for something. Once I figured out they weren't necessarily the 'good guys' I left. They aren't happy about that." She hissed, and they all looked at her arm. A bump was welling up underneath the bullet hole. As they watched, the bullet pushed out of her arm, falling to the floor.
They were stunned to see the hole healing before their eyes. They'd only seen Logan do that before.
"What I'd really like to know, is who you people are?" she said rotating her tanned, and now perfect arm. "Why were my friends so happy to get you?"
"Let's just say we work for rival companies." Scott said with a thin smile.
The woman took some money out of her back pocket, and left it on the bar. She leaned over the bar, giving them a nice view of her shapely rear, and grabbed a leather jacket and black helmet with green fire.
"The bike outside is yours?" Scott asked breathlessly.
"Yep. That's my baby." She shrugged on her jacket. "Well, it's been fun, but Ruthie's going to be coming back out front pretty quick here, and with the two dead bodies… Well, I don't like hanging around talking to cops."
"I don't think you're going to have to worry about that." Scott said taking out his cell phone. "Let me make a quick call, then we can talk."
"Gee, talk, um, sorry. I'm not much on talking. Talking is what got me into this mess. Now I move on. Find another quiet little bar, where I hole up, and wait for the next group. Eventually, they get tired of their losses, and give up." She had started edging for the door.
"We've dealt with these people on several occasions. They don't just give up. Chances are we could help you. At least let us try." Ororo said quietly
Cal looked at the people who had put their safety at risk to try to help her. Of course the men would have gone after them next, so really they were looking after themselves, but what would it hurt to talk to them? It isn't like she couldn't leave when she was ready to.
"You have my attention." she told them, easing herself onto a barstool.
The cops got there, and took the unconscious men away, a coroners van took the two dead men. She was amused when they called her ma'am, and asked if she needed to be seen for any injuries. She had oh so politely told them no thank you. Then she had gotten on her bike, and followed the vehicle back to a large mansion. There was a sign in front at the gates that said it was a school. She parked in front, and was met at the door by the other three. They led her inside the large double doors, past a group of teenagers playing video games and air hockey.
"Got anything to drink?" she asked.
Bobby smirked, feeling the déjà vu of having this conversation previously. "This is a school. No alcohol. Do you want a Dr. Pepper?"
"Yeah, that'll work. Make sure it's cold okay?" she looked at him strangely when he snorted trying to hold back laughter.
"Yeah, I can handle that." he told her walking away. A lovely girl met him halfway. She was shorter than Cal with dark hair, and dark eyes. A white streak marring the chestnut hair. She had long gloves covering her hands up to her upper arms. Bobby kissed her covered hand, and walked away. The girl turned to study Cal, and walked over to the group.
"Hi, I'm Rogue." she said in her southern drawl.
Cal looked at the young girl. "Cal. Where you from?"
Rogue smiled slightly, "here and there, Mississippi mostly. You?"
"Texas." The two girls looked at each other, something passing between them.
"Welcome to our home Ms. Collier." a well modulated voice broke the girls thoughts.
Cal turned to find an attractive bald man in a wheelchair approaching silently, the wheels of his chair spinning without sound.
"I'm Professor Charles Xavier." he introduced himself. "I do welcome you."
"Thanks for the invite." she told him, her eyes slightly narrowed. This man was powerful, very powerful. She wasn't sure if she felt comfortable with that. He smiled at her, and she got the feeling he knew what she was thinking. These people were different. "You're all mutants." she whispered. Bobby had just returned with her drink.
"Yes, we are." he said, "As you are."
Cal's eyes widened. Looking at the window she saw it was getting dark out. She had to get out of there, what had she been thinking. She wouldn't be the one to lead those men here. "I have to go…NOW."
"Ms. Collier, I assure you…" Charles began with a slight frown.
"No." she said, her eyes flashing, "I made a mistake comin' here. I'll just be on my way." She turned and hurried towards the door, grabbing her helmet from the small bench she'd set it on.
The door opened just as she got there. A tall man entered. He was wildly attractive. Wild dark brown hair, sideburns to his jaw line. Piercing brown eyes, sinewy muscle, an unlit cigar clamped between his teeth. He was in rugged snug jeans, a white t-shirt, and an old beaten up leather jacket. She gasped, startled at his appearance. He looked at her in surprise, and then at the group behind her. She sensed the predator in him, it called to hers.
"Ms. Collier please, stay the night at least. We can help you." Charles Xavier said softly.
"Tell your goon to get out of my way." she said her eyes glittering dangerously.
Logan's eyes narrowed at being called a goon. "I'd watch who you're calling a goon there lady."
"I would suggest you getting out of my way." she said quietly, her accent deepening with her anger.
"Oh yeah, whatcha gonna do about it?" he asked just as dangerously.
"I'll move you." she said through clenched teeth. "I'm tryin real hard here to not lose my temper. You aren't makin it easy."
"What can I say, just not an easy guy." Scott snorted as soon as the words left Logan's lips.
"They won't find you here Ms. Collier. I can promise you that. Just stay for the night. If you wish to leave tomorrow you can." Charles cajoled.
Logan saw something pass through the stunning woman's eyes, something he couldn't quite name.
"I'm going to go outside and smoke a cigarette. I will stay for the night. Tomorrow I'm gone." she said looking past the man in front of her. "I promise that I will stay tonight." She walked past Logan, into the front courtyard.
"What the he…heck is going on now?" Logan asked.
Ororo quickly filled him in on what they'd seen when they had found her.
"Think I could take her?" he asked Bobby.
"Logan!" Rogue admonished. "I liked her. I hope she stays."
"I do too Rogue." Charles said quietly. "That young woman needs us. And I can honestly say, she'd be a good addition to the X-Men."
"She 's got a huge chip on her shoulder." Logan huffed.
"That doesn't remind me of anyone else around here."
A few hours had passed, and Logan went outside to smoke his cigar. Somewhere someone had a radio on, and he could hear a haunting voice singing. The woman was tinkering with her bike. Damn it was a nice bike. He'd admired it on his way inside. Logan frowned as he realized the singing was coming from the woman in the drive up.
Cal was singing My Immortal by Evanescence. It reminded her of her father. The man that had been there for her always. Gone now Cal, she thought bitterly, no use dwelling. She pulled out the Cuervo that she'd taken with her from the bar, and took a large swallow. It burned on the way down, making her feel. It had been a long time since she'd felt.
"You gonna stand there starin, or you gonna ask for a drink?" she told Logan without turning to him, she held the bottle out to the side for him.
He walked over to her, and took the bottle. Logan took a slug of the tequila. "Damn that's good." he said eying the bottle fondly.
"Yeah. It is at that." she said.
"Nice bike." he told her.
"Thanks." she said stroking the bike slightly. "She's my baby."
They sat silently for a while before Logan made his way back inside.
The next morning the group gathered in Xavier's office to talk with Cal. Charles, Scott, Logan, Ororo, Rogue, and Bobby were all in attendance. Cal made her way in slowly.
"Well, this isn't daunting at all." she said wryly.
"Why is the military after you?" Charles asked.
"You don't already know?" she asked, at the startled look on his face she grinned, "I know what you can do. It isn't often I get asked that question. The answer is simple. William Carlyle."
"William Carlyle?" Scott asked puzzled, "The former senator from Texas?"
"That would be him. My father and William were friends. My Daddy owned several oil fields. When I was born, I was just… different. I could do things, feel things, manipulate things. Daddy kept it pretty quiet, couldn't let it get out that his only daughter was a freak of nature. See, he blamed himself. He wanted a child so badly, that he and Momma messed around with some pretty experimental fertility drugs. Funny what money can buy. Momma died when I was twelve."
She continued, not really looking at any of them. "Daddy used to have these poker games, once a month. All the big oil boys came, William Carlyle started coming too. One night, would have been about six years ago, it was just Daddy and William. I guess they were drinking pretty heavily. Daddy let it slip. His daughter the superhero. Can you imagine, me a superhero? Daddy just kept going. William shrugged it off. Thought Daddy was just too drunk to know what he was saying. Two years ago, after Daddy died, William Carlyle came back to our home. Said he wanted to talk to me about joining a worthy cause, if indeed I could do what Daddy said I could. Told me that there was a military group that needed my help to fight the evil mutants."
Cal stood. "Told me that I'd be doing good. Helping my country. It occurred to me, that since I was a mutant, obviously, what he was suggesting didn't make sense, but I signed on. It was interesting work for the first six months. Then they started wanting me to do some very illegal things. I told them no. One night they told me I had a choice, I could do what they wanted me to do, or I could end up like Daddy. I had been smart enough to never show them everything I could do. I left that night, and been running ever since."
She turned back to face them, "Every other month or so, I feel them coming. I find a secluded area, where I can keep as many people as possible safe, and I face the new group. I think last night was the sixth group."
"Do you kill them all?" Ororo asked quietly.
"Normally? Yes I do." her face had hardened, "Leaving them alive just means they'll come after me another day. I don't have the luxury of knocking people out, and calling in for reinforcements."
"None of the people in this room blame you for surviving." Charles told her. "We'd be hypocrites if we did. There are always casualties of war. Unfortunately, there is a war brewing. Between mutants and humans, and mutants against mutants."
"I've never really known anyone else like me." she said staring out the window.
"Join us. We can help you, and you can help us." Scott told her.
"I'm not a real team player. I like to keep on my own. I don't think that what you're suggestin would work out well for either one of us." She said looking at the group.
"Logan's the biggest non-team player that we've ever seen." Scott started.
"Hey," Logan protested, "I work with the team."
Scott rolled his eyes, "Of course you do. All I'm saying is, it isn't like you have to be attached to our hips 24/7. You'd still have your freedom, except this time you'd have back up, and you wouldn't have to keep running."
"Well said Scott." Charles smiled at his second in command. "How about you take some time to think about it. In the mean time. We could show you what we do here, and you could see what we're about."
Cal had been at the mansion for several weeks, and so far hadn't spoken of leaving. She and Rogue seemed to have formed a close bond. She would disappear for a few hours most days, but always returned by the time it got dark.
Cal looked at the other people in the bar. Tonight she had agreed to come out with some of the X-Men. She had a feeling they were trying to show her that they knew how to have fun too. Ororo, Scott, Logan, Kurt Wagner, wearing a phenomenal disguise, and Cal.
Right now a group of boys, well they had to at least be legal, were inching their way towards Ororo and Cal.
Ororo was in black leggings, and a white tunic. She looked stunning. Cal was wearing low riding black cargo pants, with a halter top that tied around her neck, and one thin tie at her lower back. The top was blood red, and she had paired the pants with black combat boots. Her hair was sleeked back, and she wore little make up.
Disturbed's Violent Fetish came on, and Cal decided she wanted to dance. She took pity on one of the boys, and grabbed him on the way to the floor.
Ororo watched Logan watch Cal and the boy. "She certainly knows how to dance."
"Is that what that's called." he said through thin lips, and took a large swig of beer.
Ororo found her eyes meeting Scott's, he nodded slightly at her, and she walked away. He leaned on the table near Logan. How the hell was he supposed to do this? "She's something else." he said.
Logan looked over at the other man, "yeah, I guess."
"You know, it's been a long year and a half." Scott said. "I see how you look at her Logan."
"You don't know what you're talkin about." Logan said taking another drink.
"All I'm saying is that Jean wouldn't have wanted you to pass up an opportunity at happiness." he said softly to the man who had almost been a rival.
Logan looked at Scott, "I don't see you out there looking for happiness."
"Maybe I should be, or maybe it will find me, either way, that beautiful, and scarred woman out there, looks at you the same way you look at her. You didn't go looking. We found her, or she found us. Nothing to regret, nothing to feel guilt over."
"And if it was you. Would you feel guilt?"
"Yeah, but I'd also thank God that I could still feel for someone." Scott answered sincerely.
Logan watched Cal dancing with the boy. He shook his head, the boy was already half in love with the woman. Logan's eyes narrowed as the boy's hands wandered low on Cal's hips. Cal turned and frowned at the boy. Damn, how old was she anyway? Probably a helluva lot younger than he was. She looked over at him, and caught him looking, he raised his bottle to her. Nope, probably better off staying away from her.
Charles led Cal to the danger room. He thought she'd enjoy seeing what she could do at the mansion. She had a lot of energy roiling through her, and seemed edgy. He wanted to see her work against Logan. Xavier had a feeling it would be a close match up.
Cal entered the room and began stretching. She knew that Xavier wanted to test her skills. She would give him a show. She did wish it wasn't against Logan, or Wolverine as Xavier had said his team name was. She was attracted to the man. Pure and simple lust, and she didn't want to be. Any time she'd been around him in the past few weeks it had made a fire build in her belly, and other places.
Cal hadn't told the group earlier, but when she'd been threatened by Carlyle's men, she'd found out that her fiancé had been responsible for her father's death. A horrible guilt weighed on her chest. Men weren't to be trusted. Especially good looking ones who still smelled of mourning a loved one himself. No, if she decided she needed some relief in the form of sex, she'd find someone elsewhere.
Logan entered the danger room dressed in a black tank top, and black sweat pants, no shoes. He was cursing himself for his attraction to the blonde. For some reason, he kept feeling disloyal to Jean. He hadn't even been with her, and he felt disloyal. The woman was dressed similarly to him. Barefoot, a black tank, and black loose cotton pants.
They faced each other, and circled slowly.
"I'll try to be gentle." he told her gruffly.
"You do that." she shot at him, "that's how you'll end up on your ass."
Logan lunged at her, and she moved before he even noticed.
"Over here big guy." she taunted from behind him.
"You just gonna run away girl?"
"Come get me."
He lunged again, and this time managed to snag her ankle before she could move past, she fell to the floor with a small cry, and rolled up into a crouching position. He was smirking at her, and she had her eyes narrowed. She nodded at him in acknowledgement. They began to move again. A loud siren went off above them, breaking them out of their game.
Her head whipped up, and a scream poured out of her mouth. She dropped to her knees, covering her ears. Logan moved to her quickly, tears were streaming down her face.
"Turn off the damned alarms," he screamed in anger.
"It isn't the alarms." she was trembling violently, "They're out there. They're out there with those machines." Her dark brown eyes were turning even darker, almost black, as anger poured into them. "No more!" She was up and moving out of the danger room quickly, but not as fast as before. Logan followed after her.