Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men or anything directly related to the show, movie, etc. I own Marius, Maria, Dante, Andria, and the CHE not to mention anything else I decide to add.
Reviewer Response
Gabriel Doubt - Thanks and I'm glad you chose to read it even though it was one chapter. I hope the second one lives up to your expectations.
Chapter Two
Andria opened the door to the apartment she shared with her brother and threw the keys onto the hall table. For some reason she had spent the day in a daze reliving her memories of the last five years. So much had happened since that night that she and her brother ran away. Now here they were in a small two bedroom apartment, five years down the road and only about a hundred miles from where their parents had died. She sat down on the couch and laid her head against the back with a deep sigh.
"Andria? I didn't even know you were home." Dante said coming out of his room in a pair of sweatpants and looking very sleepy.
Andria nodded, "Yeah, work was exhausting. I think I'm going to get a shower and maybe take a nap."
Dante grinned, "Ahh the kids can't be that bad." he teased. She glared daggers at him for a moment before getting to her feet.
"Who is making dinner tonight?" she asked already knowing the answer.
Dante glanced around, "Well…I'd do it but you know what a terrible cook I am…so I guess our best bet would be to let the piccolo brilla ragazza do the cooking." (little glitter girl)
Andria rolled her eyes, "Asino pigro. I'll take care of it later then." (Lazy ass) She dropped her jacket and shoulder back onto her bed before grabbing fresh clothes and a towel from the closet. A shower sounded truly wonderful right about now.
Dante watched his sister walk away and waited until he heard the shower before darting into the small area they had set aside for an office. He had received a strange call earlier in the day. Someone and he couldn't say if the someone was male or female, had called and told him that he and his sister needed to get out of town because the CHE was onto them and were planning to make a move…soon. Which meant that he and his sister were in serious danger but he couldn't figure out what the best plan of action was. He knew his sister was doing well here and he couldn't bare to tell her that she had to pick up her life, change her name and move hundreds of miles away again for the twelfth time in the last five years. So now he had to try and come up with some alternatives. He knew that the CHE had been making local news headlines as an organization dedicated to the improvement of human life but what was amazingly absent was that the improvement was meant only for normal humans.
He slid into the computer chair and began to search through the news articles for any hint as to what the CHE's next move would be. After what seemed like hours of being leaned over a computer keyboard he sat back with a growl of defeat.
"Nothing." he muttered angrily. He closed his eyes for a moment only to be brought right back to his hypertensive alert state. Someone was knocking on their door. Slowly he got to his feet and hesitated; his sister was upstairs in the shower and completely unaware of anything. Which placed them both at a disadvantage. Again they knocked only harder this time. His heart began to race and his mind became flooded with countless images of escape routes that he had previously mapped out. Now they were pounding on the door and he knew it was too late.
He bolted for the stairs as the head of an axe smashed through the wooden front door. He heard the grappling of hands trying to unlock the door and then open it. He reached the bathroom door only to find it open and empty which he hoped meant that she was already in her room. He reached the end of the hall and slammed into her room. "Andria, RUN!"
Andria walked into her room and put her dirty clothes in the hamper beside her door. For a moment she wondered what her brother was doing but decided it was probably none of her business and her bed looked really inviting.
"There's nothing a little nap can't fix." she whispered as she laid down and snuggled up beneath the covers. Just when she had gotten comfortable her brother slammed into her room.
"Andria RUN!" Her heart was racing as she jumped out of her bed and grabbed her bag from beneath it.
"What's going on?" she asked her voice slightly high pitched.
"They're here." he yelled pushing open her window and moving so that she could climb out and onto the fire escape. He lifted one leg and had almost ducked through the window when the bedroom door opened and a large bearded man with a handgun entered the room.
"Come on back inside freak." he said his voice gruff and demanding. Dante stopped his heart racing, his right hand was discreetly waving at Andria to go but he could tell she was frozen waiting for him.
"Okay, now hold on. Point the gun somewhere else. You're making me nervous." he said his voice low and he hoped reassuring.
The man shook his head, "I'm not stupid. I point this gun away and you'll use your freak powers on me." he said moving closer, his finger trembling on the trigger. Dante's eyes widened slightly, he considered using his powers but couldn't say for sure if he'd be fast enough and even if he was…he knew this guy wasn't alone. He felt Andria moving closer to the window and he froze. There was a small chance that this guy didn't know she was there, and if that was the case the balance was quickly shifting in his favor. He grabbed her hand and squeezed praying she understood the silent message. She did.
She stepped in front of the window and threw her hand out projecting a solid wall of shimmering light. Dante took his opportunity and encased the man in a swirling cloud of black shadows. A bullet ricocheted off the wall and Dante nodded at Andria. She made a pushing motion with her hand and effectively slammed her wall of light into the shadowy mass knocking the man out of the room and tumbling down the stairs into the two men at the bottom. Andria turned and ran down the stairs of the fire escape with Dante behind her.
Thousands of miles away a man in a wheelchair relaxed his grip on the chair and opened his eyes. Quickly he removed the metal helmet from his head and turned rolling out of the room and into an elevator. He had what he needed and now he had to act on it.
