When I woke up again, it was dark. No that it was any indication about what time it was, there were no windows in the room where I was sleeping and the lights were off. Slowly and painfully I slipped out from the blankets and for the first time noticed what I was wearing. An exceedingly large pair of sweat pants and wife-beater engulfed my long lanky and my feet were bare. For a moment I wondered who had changed me out of my clothes and then decided not to worry about it. For once I didn't really want to know and for another I was grateful that they did. I wouldn't have wanted to sleep in the sweat and blood encrusted clothes I had been wearing.
Quietly I padded towards the door, having an overwhelming urge to use theshower. After a brief poking around I found a shower to clean up a bit. Once I had finished I looked at myself in the mirror, critically eyeing the new changes.
My hair and eyes looked the same as always. Though my hair was messy and slightly greasy looking and my eyes tired. My face and hands were still bandaged and sore, but they were feeling kind of itchy which meant they were healing. When I lifted my shirt to look at the lashings, I winced and the mess. My skin was a mottle black, blue and yellow scattered with red welts. They were fading and only a few bandages covered the worst of it. All in all I was a bit of a mess, but I was healing and that was the important thing.
With a heavy sigh I left the washroom and started wandering around. The metal hallways were rather creepy looking, I decided as I meandered, and cold. Still, it was better than nothing and Hank at least had been kind to me when I first woke up. Hopefully the other guy, Logan, would be too.
I finally came to a room where the smell of food was rather concentrated and tentatively I poked my head in. Hank was sitting at a table with a plate of untouched pancakes in front of him and a newspaper in his hands. A small frown marred his face as he read, and he absentmindedly sipped at a mug of coffee that was dwarfed by his large hand. Another man, Logan I assumed, was leaning on the counter near the toaster, a plate nearby and waiting. He also nursed a cup of coffee and as soon as I peeked in his head moved up and he looked right at me.
"Morning, kid," he greeted me with a small smile. "How're you feelin'?"
Slowly I moved into the room, feeling ridiculous in my clothes and wrapped my arms around myself. "like the coyote after he fails to catch the roadrunner I admitted softly. "But better. Thanks."
"Ah, Alex," Hank said with a large smile. "I'm glad to hear that. This is Logan, by the way, I don't think you were formerly introduced?" I shook my head in response and gave Logan a small nod that he returned. Hank obviously considered that to be a perfectly fine way to greet someone and immediately plunged on. "Wonderful. Would you like some breakfast? I'm willing to share my pancakes if you wish."
I shook my head. "No, that's fine. I'll just make myself some cereal." Quickly I wandered over where the fridge was and had some cheerio's. There was a long moment of awkward silence, and I beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable as each moment passed, but then Hank broke the silence.
"Alex, later this afternoon Logan and I are going to go see one of our old friends to see if she wishes to join us. While we're out we can drop you off at a mall so you can get yourself some new clothes if you would like."
"I don't have any money," I admitted quietly, playing with the hem of my shirt.
Hank shook his head. "We have some you can use." When I opened my mouth to protest he quickly jumped in. "And if you feel like you must, you can repay us later. It's is not necessary though, we are trying to help you."
I bit my lip and considered it. I really didn't want to use their money, they had done so much for me already, but I couldn't think of anything else unless… "Um, if you could drop me off at my old house I could pick up my things. It would be a lot easier than way."
Hank and Logan exchanged a glanced and they nodded. "Very well, if that is what you wish. While you're there you may pick up anything you wish to keep, computers, cds, that sort of thing."
"Ok."
With that plan in place I started eating my breakfast, feeling a little more secure in my place with these men. If they wanted to me pick up my valuables as well, obviously they expected me to be here a while, and I was strangely ok with that. In fact I was happy. Slowly they were gaining my trust.
A few hours later I had taken a shower and changed into another pair of borrowed clothes that were just as big and Hank had found me some shoes to wear until we reached my house. Once we were ready, we all piled into the MRD helicopter and headed off to my house. The entire way there I was jittery and nervous but slowly it was replaced by a simmering rage. This was my family, the ones who handed me over to the MRD where I was tortured for information. No, they weren't my family any more.
Hank landed the helicopter in a field a little ways from my house and after a brief discussion it was decided that Hank would stay to watch the helicopter and Logan and I would gather my things. Logan and I didn't say a word as we walked to my house, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable, even though I was careful to keep a good amount of space between us. It was a companionable silence and somehow I knew that if everything went wrong, Logan would have my back.
Finally we reached my house and I paused on the sidewalk, taking it in. The lawn was a mess from my fight with the MRD and the white paint was scorched a bit. The hole I had made was covered with plastic that moved in the wind and I felt a surge of satisfaction realizing how much trouble I had caused my parents that night. Karma's a bitch. The car was in the drive though, indicating they were home and slowly I walked up to the door, Logan on my heels.
I knocked firmly on the wooden door and stared impassively at it while I heard footsteps approaching and my dad pulled open the door. We stared at each other for a mull minute before he finally spoke.
"Alex? What are you doing here? I thought—"
"That I was gone for good?" I asked angrily. "Not quite. But don't worry, I'm just here for my stuff." Roughly I pushed past him and walked confidently into the house even though on the inside I was quaking with nerves or rage I wasn't certain.
"Chris? Who is it? Oh," my mother said, walking around the corner, wiping her hands on a tea towel. "Alex?" she asked tentatively.
"Don't worry Mom, I'll be out of your hair soon." I turned to Logan who was leaning against the doorframe, watching the three of us carefully. "My room's upstairs, can you help me pack?"
"Sure thing, kid," he said and together we walked up the stairs, my parents following nervously.
"Little lover, can we talk?" my mother asked once we reached my room. My parents stayed by the door while Logan and I shoved my things into whatever bags I could fine. Duffle bags, a couple suitcases, backpacks. I didn't bother being neat about it, I just dumped the contents of my drawers in, though I was sure to do my undergarments myself rather than have Logan stumble upon them.
"Speak, I'm listening."
"We're concerned. The MRD called us last night, informing us you had run away with some…" she glanced at Logan nervously and quickly changed what she was going to say. "Unsavoury characters."
"Did they?" I mused as I stuffed my laptop in its special carrying case.
"Yes, perhaps it's best you stay home."
I snorted. "What? So you can just call the MRD again no thanks."
"We just want what's best for you."
I froze and slowly turned to them, anger making my fists clench and I nearly ripped the suitcase in two. "What's best for me?" I repeated. "You want what's best for me?" I laughed coldly. "You have no idea what's best for me. And you know what? You lost the right to order me around the moment you called the MRD. You aren't my parents anymore; you're just the people that gave birth to me."
My mother's eyes filled with tears, but my dad's eyes flashed with anger. "Don't you dare speak to us that way," he snapped. "You must give us all the respect we deserve."
"That's exactly what I did. I gave you all due respect."
"That's it!" My father stomped forward and grabbed my wrist, yanking me towards the door and away from Logan. My skin burned where he touched me and I tried to pull away from him.
"Back off!" I screeched, clawing at his hand.
"Stop that racket, Alex, I'm your father and I know what's best for you."
"Don't touch me!" I growled. Suddenly Logan was there, gripping my father's wrist so tightly I could hear something crunching. My father bellowed in pain and let go of me, allowing me to stumble backwards and cower behind Logan.
"He said back off," Logan growled menacingly to my parents who paled and cringed away from the angry man. Logan then turned to me, approaching me but not trying to touch. "You ok, kid?"
"Yeah, let's just go."
He nodded. "Sure kid, let's go."
Quickly we gathered up my things, Logan taking the three bags of my clothes and I had two bags of valuables that I didn't want to leave behind. Without saying a word we walked down the stairs and to the door, I paused on the threshold and looked back at my ashen parents.
"Tell Sarah I said bye," I said quietly, then hurriedly walked out and slammed the door behind me.
Once again Logan and I didn't say anything on the way back to the helicopter. Our faces must have reflected our visit and Hank didn't ask any questions as we piled in. Hank and Logan started talking about where to find someone called Rogue and I took the opportunity to change into something that actually fit. I retreated to the back, and shuffled through it all until I found a decent pair of jeans, a che Guevara t-shirt that would hide the bandages on my midsection and shoulders, and a pair of sneakers.
Once I was decent I returned to the front and saw we were just beginning to land. I looked around the area carefully, mostly full of empty warehouses, and my eyebrows shot up. "Rogue will be here?"
"Senator Kelly is giving a speech on mutants in this vicinity right now," Hank explained. "We think that Rogue will be there, listening." With the ease of practice he landed the helicopter and turned it off. We all climbed out and looked around, specifically at the large crown of people surrounding the senator. Logan pulled a pair of huge binoculars and peered through them, trying to find her.
"What does this chick look like?" I asked, scanning the crowd with my own pair of binoculars that they had given me.
"Light brown hair and white bangs. Usually keeps it up in a ponytail. Green eyes," Logan grunted. "She'll be keeping her skin covered up too, so likely wearing a jacket of some sort."
Suddenly Kelly whipped a black tarp off a purple, mechanical spider and I whistled under my breath. "What in the name of all that's holy is that thing?"
"A sentinel prowler," Logan growled. "A mutant hunter. If Rogue's there it'll likely go after her. They're programmed to chase mutants and kill them." As Logan predicted, the sentinel seemed to pick out a retreating figure in the crown and stepped off the podium to chase it.
"Is that her?"
"Yep. Let's go."
Following along the rooftops we chased the sentinel and girl. Me using the surrounding trees to teleport, Logan and Hank jumping from roof to roof. Finally we managed to catch up to the pair, only the girl wasn't alone anymore. A man with large white wings scooped Rogue up into his arms and soared into the sky. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was going bat-shit crazy thinking I saw an angel—as close to one as I'm ever going to get anyways—but then the sentinel clipped one of his wings with his gun the pair began to fall.
"I got it!" I said, gesturing up with my hands. A nearby tree extended its branches catching them , but the sentinel was still coming. Logan then launched himself into the air and landed firmly on its back. I blinked at his savage rage as he sliced into the machine's back, then shrugged and followed Hank who had jumped to the ground and was talking with the other two mutants.
"Are you two alright?"
"Great," the blond man replied. "Now that I see the X-men are back together."
"Oh," Hank said nervously. "Well…"
"We're not," Rogue said harshly.
I looked at her with raised eyebrows, not entirely impressed with her attitude. "Oh that's gratitude for you," I said coldly.
"Oh, are you with us officially now?" Hank asked happily.
"If that's ok," I said with a sheepish grin, just realizing I had just assumed I was part of them.
"Of course, the more the merrier!" He turned to the winged man. "So the X-men currently consist of me, Logan, and Alex," he said with a dramatic gesture in my direction.
"And a stolen MRD helicopter," I said with a smirk.
"My name is Warren Worthington III, or Angel, I suppose you can guess why." He stuck out his hand and I stiffly took it, not wishing to appear rude.
"Nice you meet you. So do you all have these odd codenames?"
Hank nodded. "Yes while we're on missions we use them so we don't give our identities away." He glanced quickly at Rogue. "Though some of us prefer to use them full time."
"Guess I'll have to come up with one then," I mused.
Suddenly there was a loud explosion and we all turned to see the sentinel smoking and falling to the ground as Logan lithely jumped off. He looked back at us then slowly wandered over. Rogue pulled up the hood of her green jacket and walked away. Logan walked past us towards her with a small acknowledgement to Warren that was returned and I watched the two mutants walked away down the alley.
"So," Hank said to keep the conversation going. "What about you? Isn't it time you came back?"
Warren sighed. "Sorry, I can't."
"But I thought your father found out you were a mutant."
"He did. Still hates mutants though. And that makes me the family's dark little secret," Warren said bitterly as he started to walk away.
"So why stick around?" I asked. "Seems to me you'd be a lot happier somewhere else."
"Because right now I help a lot of mutants with the family money. If I join any mutant group, he'd cut me off."
Hank nodded. "I understand."
The sound of helicopters made us look up. MRDs were already coming in to investigate and find their wayward sentinel. Warren sighed and walked a few more steps.
"MRDs, that's my exit cue." He turned back to us and shook hanks hand. "Hey Hank, good luck. The world needs the X-men." He then turned to me with a charming smile and shook my hand again. "It was nice to meet you Alex, and welcome to the X-Men hope you survive the experience."
"Nice to meet you too cupid, and thanks," I said, a bit stiffly at his close proximity, but still politely. He stepped back and launched into the air, Hank's and my eyes following him with admiration as he soared into the sky.
Hank chuckled. "Indeed he does. By the way, I'm very impressed with how you handed yourself. You acted quickly when saving Angel and Rogue. Well done."
I shrugged. "Hey, I gotta start pulling my weight." I admitted.
"Don't worry," Hank said kindly. "It can only get better with time." We walked down the alley where Logan and Rogue and walked, reaching Logan just as Rogue disappeared around the corner.
"She just needs a little time," Hank said comfortingly.
"Yeah, maybe," Logan said not sounding completely convinced.
"What's with her?" I asked.
Hank sighed and we started walking towards the helicopter. "It's a long story, but essentially Rogue has always been the odd one out, so to speak. Her powers make it impossible to touch someone without hurting them, and she ran away when her powers first emerged. As such, she bonded with Logan because of their similar personalities but she always felt like he's abandoned her whenever he went over to confront his past."
"So she's got abandonment issues," I summed up. "Doesn't trust Logan anymore?."
"I can hear you, you know," Logan growled.
"I know," I said automatically, not really meaning it and by the look he sent my way, Logan knew it too.
"She's right though," Logan continued. "No one's going to come back if I'm in charge."
"Seems to me you just have to prove you can be there and you can do it," I said with a shrug.
"I need a team to lead first."
"You've got us."
Logan turned and looked at me then Hank. "So you with us officially then?"
"100%."
He nodded slowly. "It's a start. Thanks kid," he said over his shoulder.
"Not a problem," I murmured as we entered the building where the helicopter was parked. Quickly we raced up to the roof, piled in and headed for home.
Once there, Hank went back to the computer to start finding other members of the X-men and I got my things settled in my room. I wasn't sure what Logan did, but I didn't see him for a couple more hours, and even then it was just a passing by as he left. Noticing his swift pace I ambled over to the computer lab where Hank was working and leaned against the wall.
"So where's Logan going?"
"He's going to meet with Scott Summers or Cyclops," Hank said absentmindedly as he tapped away on the keyboard. "Hopefully he'll bring him back too."
"And you're looking for the other X-men, huh?"
"Yes indeed."
I nodded. "Cool. I suppose I'll go make myself useful by getting supper. What would you like to eat?"
"Anything you feel like cooking. Neither Logan nor myself are picky eaters."
I shrugged. "Ok then. See ya later Hank." He didn't respond as I left, but I wasn't offended. He was occupied with something more important.
In the kitchen, or what passed as a kitchen, I perused the cupboards before deciding we desperately needed groceries. There wasn't enough of anything to make a proper meal, let alone for two large men and a teenage boy with a big appetite. So I decided to just order pizza.
After waiting what seemed like forever, finally the kid showed up. I went looking for Hank but I already found him stealing a slice,
"Hey."
"Oh sorry, it smells amazing Alex,"
"Thank you. Has Logan come back yet?"
As if in response to my question Logan appeared right behind Hank, his nose also working in overdrive.
"Hank's right kid. Smells good."
I rolled my eyes. "Well come in and sit down then, it's getting cold."
The three of us sat down and dug in, and other than a gentle reprimand on the benefits of having a balanced diet to Logan, we didn't say anything. Finally, when the meal was coming to an end, I asked Logan how his talk with Scott went.
"He blasted me through a brick wall," he grunted. "He's not going to be helping us anytime soon."
"And the others?" I asked Hank.
"Peter is in Russia and refuses to leave his family, not that I blame him," Hank started with a sigh. "Kitty left her folk's house a while ago when they started getting harassed and I haven't been able to locate her, and Bobby's parents won't let me speak to him."
"Oh great," I said.
"Yeah," Logan agreed.
"And it just keeps on getting worse," a voice piped up from the doorway. We all turned in surprise to see Warren walking through the door.
"Cupid!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Do you want some food? I think there's some left," I offered.
He eyed the food and shrugged. "I'll have some of that pizza, smells like heaven."
"What do you mean it's getting worse?" Logan demanded as I passed Warren a plate.
"Rogue has joined the Brotherhood," he said grimly before biting into the bread, and before I spat out my soda all over Logan.
"Sorry"
"Can't blame ya"
"Anyway, too late, she's ours," Logan said quickly. "Are you sure she's joined them?"
"Positive. They broke into our house so she could siphon information from my father."
"What were they after?"
"Senator Kelly's itinerary. They now know everything my father knows. They're going to take down the senator."
There was a long pause of silence, filled only by Warren's chewing before I turned to Logan.
"So now what?"
"We have to stop them," Logan said grimly. "But first we need to talk to Bobby's parents."
I winced. "Fantastic I muttered. With a heavy sigh I rose to my feet and started stacking the dishes.
"Put down those dishes," Hank ordered sternly.
I looked up at him in surprise. "What?"
"Put them down. You got supper, someone else does the clean-up, that's the way we do it here. Besides, I want to look at your cuts, and you can't wash dishes with the cuts on your palms anyways."
"Oh." I frowned. "Then who's going to do dishes?"
"Logan and Warren would love to," Hank said smoothly. Both men opened their mouths to protest but Hank and I were already leaving the room. As I walked away I could hear their arguing over who would do what.
"Last one to the sink dries?" Warren offered.
"I've got a better idea. We each cut ourselves and whoever heals the fastest gets to wash."
"But you have an accelerated healing factor!" Warren protested.
"I know," Logan said smugly.
I shook my head at their antics and followed Hank to what he called the Med Bay. It didn't look like much, but it was well lit and clean and it held all our medical supplies, so it would have to do.
"So have you decided on a codename yet?" Hank asked to distract me as he took off the bandage to look at my eye. Goosebumps rose on my skin because of his close proximity, but I forced myself to remain still and calm, taking deep steadying breathes and concentrating on the conversation.
"Not really. I mean, there's not a lot you can say about someone who controls plants. Nothing good anyways."
Hank nodded. "Yes, I know what you mean."
I smiled wryly and winced as Hank peeled off the tape of the bandage on my stomach. "Maybe something like ivy or thorn." I then thought about it for a few more seconds "Never mind I'm a dude"
Hank chuckled. "True, Alex. You belong to the X-men now, but I don't believe you will ever fit amongst the majority of us. It's not a bad thing, Alex, just look at Logan. He's always been a bit of a lone wolf, but he is part of the family and always will be.
"I got it," I finally announced. "Whiplash"," I repeated slowly, feeling it in my mouth. I smiled at Hank. "Thank you."
He beamed at me and gently put the last bandage in place. "It was my pleasure. Now, you're all done here. IS there anything else you need?"
I jumped lightly off the table and winced when it jarred my wounds and suddenly I remembered. "Now that I'm officially part of the X-men, do I need a uniform too?"
"Oh yes, they are very important part of the X-men. They help keep our identities under wraps as well as protection. Not to mention the first impressions!"
I rolled my eyes. "I don't suppose you have anything that fits?"
Hank eyed me up and down and slowly shook his head. "No, I don't believe anything we have will fit. Do you anything of your own that might suffice at least for the time being?"
I hesitated, running through a mental list of everything I had brought with me. "Well, my friend bought me a army outfit as a joke on my 16th birthday. Just a pair of camouflage pants and jacket."
"Can you show it to me?"
I shrugged and walked down to my room to dig the outfit out from the back of the closet where I had stuffed it when I was unpacking. It took me a little while to find it, and once I pulled it out I laid it on the bed and eyed it, trying to decide whether I really wanted to wear it.
It wasn't hideous and it wasn't something I would wear out on the street. Low rise urban camo pants with enough pockets to keep me satisfied. The shirt was tight enough to show some muscle, and it exposed a lot of my arms. The only real problems I had with it, was that it would expose my cuts and scars for everyone to see. But it was all I had, and maybe it would help me learn to deal with my physical deformities. With a sigh I gathered up the outfit and hurried back to Hank who studied the outfit carefully. Finally he nodded.
"This will do quite fine. It's sturdy material, and it has some stretch to it so it should move with you fine. You could probably use it all the time if you wish."
I smiled. 'I'll keep that in mind. Anyways, I'm going to get some sleep. I'm sure Logan will want to leave bright and early to get Bobby. Thanks again Hank."
"Not a problem. Good night."
I picked up the clothes and wandered back to my room, making sure to keep the outfit out where I could easily find it. Then I dressed for bed, bushed my teeth and climbed into bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Just as I had predicted, Logan woke us up early to get ready. Well, at least it was early in my opinion. I suppose 8 o'clock isn't really that bad, but I'm not exactly a morning person. Logan, unfortunately, found out the hard way.
I jumped nearly a mile high when the door to my room burst open. It crashed against the wall with a loud bag, accompanied by Logan's loud, obnoxious voice demanding to get out of bed. Of course, I didn't exactly recognize Logan's voice at first, and with my past with the MRD, it's not surprising that I immediately threw a punch in his direction and the flower pot next to my bad grew in size a smacked him across the hall. I rolled out of bed quickly, fists raised to strike again at my attacking and blinked in surprise and weariness as Logan yelled at me.
"Damn it, kid! It's just me!"
Abruptly all the events of the last few days caught up with me and I paled. Quickly I lowered my fists and over to where Logan was laying after hitting the deck to avoid becoming barbequed.
"Oops sorry Logan!" I apologized quickly as I helped him off the floor. "You scared me man, I didn't mean to!"
"It's fine," he grunted. "I shouldn't have woken you up like that in the first place. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," I brushed it off quickly. "So, I suppose it's time to go?" I guessed, eyeing clothes and jacket.
"Hurry up," he ordered. "Hank has breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen. We leave in half and hour."
"Ok," I agreed and watched Logan leave the room before springing into action. I grabbed all my toiletries and a pair of civilian clothes and sprinted to the bathroom where I took the fastest shower I could—I think five minutes is pretty decent—and then did my bathroom stuff. Thank goodness I had thought to bring my face scrub with me when taking everything from my house. Then I dressed in the jeans and T-shirt I had grabbed; messed up my hair, then hurried to the kitchen.
"Ah, Alex. How are you this morning?" Hank greeted me as I rushed in. He gestured to a plate of toast and scrambled eggs and I sat down behind it.
"Not too bad.I mumbled around a full mouth.
Hank smiled. "Are you referring to the plant incident this morning?"
"That obvious." I asked dryly.
"Then I wouldn't worry about it, Logan is fine and nothing was broken. Considering the amount of other incidents that have happened before, I think it was rather insignificant."
I stared at him. "I nearly smacked Logan's head off," I said flatly. "How can that be considered 'insignificant'?"
"Believe you me, there is nothing to worry about," Hank said reassuringly. "Now, hurry and finish your breakfast. I believe Logan wants us ready to take off in 10 minutes."
Looking at the clock I realized he was right and stuffed my face before taking off at a run again. Back in my room I pulled on my sneakers and fingerless gloves then grabbed my white sweater with a black and white drawing of an eagle, with its talons covered in dark red blood. I needed it, I always got colder easier than most people, but hey it looked cool too. I glanced at my alarm clock, which said I had no more time and booked it to the helicopter. Logan and Hank were already waiting for me and once I jumped in Logan looked at his watch.
"Not too bad kid got a minute to spare."
I smirked in response and flung myself into one of the back seats. Logan and Hank exchanged a smile and Hank started up the helicopter.
It took a surprising amount of time to reach Bobby's parents' house. I zoned out for the majority of the trip, but I was still incredibly bored. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Hank landed right in front of a nice, neat, little, white house with a large wrap around porch. The three of us quickly exited the helicopter and walked up to the house while Logan and Hank argued about how to go about recruiting Bobby.
"He's 18 now Hank," Logan said irritably. "He can make his own decisions now; we shouldn't even have to talk to the parents."
"But he is living with them, and this is their property. We should talk it out first, perhaps we can convince them to let him come."
Logan snorted. "The chances of that are slim to none. I say we get the kid then get out."
"Honestly Logan, I agree with Hank," I said quietly. "We should at least give the impression that we have peaceful intentions, and then resort to your plan if it doesn't work."
"That's two to one Logan," Hank said with a smile. "You're clearly out voted." Seeing Logan's scowl, Hank quickly changed the topic. "I'll do the talking. If it doesn't work we'll do it your way."
Logan huffed and firmly pounded on the door while I made myself comfortable leaning against the railing of the porch. Deciding there wasn't really much I could do, I opted to keep silent unless there was a reason not to.
A middle-aged man with a bit of a belly answered the door with a large frown on his face. When he saw Logan and Hank his eyes widened and he backed away a step. "Madeline!" he called. "You'll want to see this!"
"What is it darling?" A brown haired woman, elegantly dressed strode into view and gasped when she saw us. "You!" she exclaimed angrily. "What are you doing here?"
"We are looking for Bobby," Hank said gently. "The X-men are regrouping and we wish to see if Bobby wishes to join us again."
The woman shook her head and glared at us through her glasses. "No, he is not allowed to join you. I forbid it."
"Mrs. Drake, Bobby is 18 after all. Legally he can decide for himself."
"You are not getting our son back!" She fiercely pointed a finger at Hank, determination and fear lining every movement. "We will not let him leave this house!"
"You guys nearly got him killed last year!" the father added. His eyes found me, and he shook his head. "You have no shame, recruiting kids to do your dirty work. Whatever it is they said to you, don't listen to them. You'll only get hurt staying with them."
I scowled. "Why don't you do us all a favour and just shut up, it would be music to my ears
"Now, now—" Hank started.
"This isn't fair! I want to go with them," a young male voice interrupted. Interested, I craned my neck to see a blond teen with a red shirt and baggy brown shorts coming down the stairs.
"Bobby, wait for us upstairs!" his mother commanded.
"Mr. and Mrs. Drake, please," Hank tried once more. "Just talk to him about it."
"I've already called the police," she said coldly. "They are on their way." And with those parting words the couple walked into the house and slammed the door behind them.
"Well," I said with a scowl, still miffed at the father's words. "That was fun."
Logan rolled his eyes. "We tried it your way," Logan reminded us, then lifted his foot and kicked in the door with a resounding crash. The couple cringed away, but Logan ignored them and focused his attention on Bobby. "You coming or what?"
The teen grinned and raced to the door, celebrating his freedom and not looking back. Logan however, looked at the Drakes. "You son's a mutant," he said frostily as he left the house. "Deal with it." Then he slammed the door on them and we all walked back to the helicopter where Bobby was already waiting.
"Alright!" Bobby crowed as we took off. "The X-men are back!"
"Well, kind of. It's just us," Logan said. "By the way, Bobby, this is Alex; Alex, Bobby."
We pounded it
"Hey" he told me
"Hey," I said,
He turned his attention back to Logan. "What about Kitty? Couldn't you catch her before she left?"
"You know where she is?" Logan asked sharply.
"She told me she was heading to Genosha. Her ship left this morning."
Without skipping a beat Hank turned the helicopter, heading for a new course. Knowing it was going to be a while I headed back to one of the seats and sat down, Bobby joined me a couple seconds later. He slouched in his seat and looked at me quizzically.
"So how'd you get involved?"
My eyes darkened and I fixed my gaze on the floor. My hand unconsciously touching the back of my hand "My parents turned me into the MRD. Logan and Hank busted me out and I stuck around," I said shortly.
"Oh."
"So what exactly are your powers?" I quickly changed the topic before the silence could grow awkward. "I know your codename is Iceman, but no one explained what you did."
He smiled, relief etched in his actions. Apparently he appreciated the change in topic too. "I control ice and can shift into an ice form. What are your powers?"
I chuckled. "I can control plants."
He laughed too. "Cool. That'll make the danger room sessions interesting."
"Danger room?"
He gaped at me. "You don't know what the danger room is? Logan, is that really you up there?"
"Can it Popsicle," Logan growled. "The danger room is out of commission for the moment. I haven't had a chance to introduce it to him yet."
"Um hello, no has answered my question yet, what is the danger room?" I asked impatiently.
Bobby was still explaining the horrors and perils of the danger room when we reached Kitty's ship. I had long ago stopped listening for important information, instead settling on being amused by Bobby's obvious revulsion of it. Though I had to admit, some of the stories he told about the adventures in the room were rather funny.
Suddenly a girl appeared out of nowhere, laughing merrily. "It's about time!" she cried.
"AHHH" That got me to jump at least 2 feet
"Where did you come from?" I asked, completely disoriented by her sudden appearance.
The girl, Kitty I presumed, looked a little surprised. "Um…"
"Alex, this is Kitty or Shadowcat. Kitty, this is Alex, our newest member. Kitty has the ability to phase through objects. This is how she got in."
"Oh," I said, feeling a bit stupid. "Nice to meet you."
She grinned in a friendly manner. "Nice to meet you too. So where are we going?"
"Well, unless you know where we can find someone else to bring back, we're going back to the mansion," Logan said.
"You couldn't find Peter or Kurt?"
"Peter wished to remain in Russia with his family and you know Kurt, it's almost impossible to track him down," Hank explained.
She sighed. "Yeah, I know. So has the mansion been rebuilt then?"
I shook my head. "We're living in the tunnels underneath. The ruins are still untouched above ground."
Kitty shuddered and rubbed her arms. "Creepy," she muttered.
"Tell me about it," Bobby said. "Do you think we could ever get the place fixed up?"
"Perhaps we can get Warren to help with that," Hank said thoughtfully. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Yeah, but he would have to get the funds from his father, and that sounds a little more easily said than done," I pointed out.
"True."
The trip back was fairly uneventful, with a small side trip to pick up some groceries. I mostly sat and listened to the others catching up, doing my best not to feel somewhat left out. If had been a year since they saw each other, it made sense that they would want to catch up, and I refused to be selfish enough to demand attention.
Once we arrived at home safely, the others went to the computer to see if they could more people to recruit and I lugged all the groceries to the kitchen and started putting them away. I was through about half the bags when Kitty and Bobby walked through the door, small frowns on their faces.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked in concern. It didn't bode well for the X-men if our two newest recruits weren't happy.
"Rogue's here talking to Logan," Kitty explained.
I paused in the middle of putting bread in the cupboard and looked at the pair. "Really? Do you know why?"
They shook their heads. "No idea, but I suppose we'll find out soon enough."
Just then Rogue, Hank and Logan walked in. The three of us stopped talking and stared at Logan solemnly as he quickly briefed us on the Brotherhood's plans. An attack on Senator Kelly tomorrow at noon during the press conference. We all talked plans and strategies for hours, during supper and clean up too. Eventually we all agreed on what had to be done and went to bed. The next morning we were out the door and in our uniforms a little after 11:30 am and arrived just in time.
The attack was a bust, from the very beginning. The Brotherhood didn't even show up, and we wouldn't have escaped if Warren hadn't shown up in time. Sure, it had felt good; releasing some frustrations on the MRDs, but knowing that our first true mission turned out to be a fluke was downright crap. After we found out about Rogue just disappearing, no sign of her with the MRD we realized what she had done, and let's just say that no one was happy with Rogue once we all returned to the mansion.
Bobby and Kitty had a long ragging session on the girl, Logan, Warren and Hank talked about what was to be done and eventually decided they wouldn't do anything. Rogue made her choice, they couldn't force her to fight for them. I, never being close to Rogue, simply accepted it and dealt with the housecleaning things that had to be done. I made sure Bobby and Kitty had everything they needed, made supper, cleaned and in general did the things no one else was feeling up to doing.
Even though we didn't really lose anything, we never had Rogue to lose in the first place, the taste of defeat law lay bitter on our tongues. The senator's new conference didn't help any with that. All in all, it was a pretty crappy day for the X-men.