Title: The Edge - Chapter 2
Author: Pinkbishie
Email: feelingpink@alloymail.com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU of X-Men Evolution team as teenage spies
Note:
I've revised parts of the story a bit. Simple things really, no major changes in the
plot. A few characters have been discarded and if you want some mutant power action, go
watch the cartoon.
----------------------------------------------------------------
((Kitty))
Kitty adjusted her locker door a little more to the left, her lip gloss poised just before her
lips. In the reflection of her glued-on mirror she could clearly see Todd's locker and although
his arm partially obstructed her view of the combination, she could count exactly how far he was
turning and in which direction.
She smiled wickedly to herself, "I rock."
Three short beeps signaled the beginning of third period and Todd disappeared around the corner
of the hall.
She waited a few seconds before throwing her strawberry flavored gloss into the mess of random
books and slammed the door. In less then 4 seconds, Kitty had Todd's locker door open and was
rifling through molding sandwiches and other lumps of what used to be food. She did her best
not to gag.
"Boo."
"Christ!" Kitty whipped around, bringing her right knee up and pulling a small switchblade from
her Nine West boots she got on sale for $19.99. Before she could even recognize who it was, her
would-be assailent started to laugh.
"Wow, Kitty!" Kurt said, his grin wide like a cheshire cat, "Some reflexes."
Kitty groaned, "I nearly impaled you."
"Don't sound so disappointed."
She shoved the knife back into her boot angrily, "What do you want? I'm busy."
"I just saw Lance head down here." He glanced up and down the hall, "You didn't see him?"
"Who?" Kitty mumbled, turning away from him and picking greasy packages from the locker. The fact
that she had to go rummaging around some asshole's locker was bad enough but now that Kurt had
decided to show up just made it borderline unbearable. She cringed despite herself, it's not that
Kurt was the worst guy she's ever met but he had this uncanny knack of showing up at the wrong
times and saying unbelievably stupid things.
"So I guess he's not here."
Stupid things like that. "Who are you talking about?" Kitty asked, she picked through the junk
skillfully.
"Lance Alvers, Todd's friend."
Vaguely, she recalled the name. Lance Alvers? Wasn't he the delinquent who practically never came
to school and when he did it was only to get kicked out again? Agent X had brought up the name
a few times in the past month but since it wasn't on the list of priorities, she had promptly
placed it in the back of her mind.
Kitty shrugged. Obviously, he was trying to make weak conversation, "He's an orphan right?"
"Yah," Kurt said. His accent reminded her of those Ricola commercials. Wait, isn't Ricola
Sweedish?
Kitty sighed, facing the stinking locker, "Nothing. Where else would the little bastard
keep his gold?"
One by one, she began to replace every object she had taken out and moved, right down to the
last stick of old, hard gum. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kurt had fallen
uncharacterstically silent and fidgety.
"Kitty, I was wondering-"
"No." She interrupted, closing the locker door and gathering her bookbag up in her arms. Turning
quickly, so as not to give him a chance to ask again, she headed down the hall.
((Xavier))
"Alphabet City?" Xavier asked again, he made a note into the computer and sent it to the mainframe
in Washington.
Logan lifted both boots into the air and settled them on the edge of the computer console, "That's
what my ears heard."
Xavier frowned at the new development. Apparently, The Brotherhood was in the process of recruiting
even more teenagers susceptible to influence. Especially those teenagers who had nothing to lose.
"Alphabet City is the worst neighborhood in NYC. Prime location for deals."
Logan grunted in agreement.
"Using your descriptions, Cerebro should be able to pull up the student's profile. You said she
hadn't committed to the offer yet?"
"I didn't hear her say yes but I didn't hear her say no either," Logan paused, "Get one of the kids
to tag her and we'll head out to Alphabet City when she does."
Xavier considered the suggestion, "Fine. Take Kitty and Kurt with you."
Logan reached into his jacket pocket for a cigar, "Goodie. Maybe we could go for some ice cream
after."
Xavier smirked but turned his attention to the search in progress, "It's so typical for The Brotherhood
to elude us until the last minute. We never know what they're up to until it's too late."
"That's because it's an inside job, Chuck." Logan replied between puffs of thick cigar smoke, "You
know it and I know it."
Raven Darkholme and Eric Lensherr were the leaders of the Brotherhood assassination organization. The
organization that threatened the very existance government itself. And to think, Xavier thought
bitterly, that they had once been his partners. Painful memories of trusting times and betrayal flooded
his thought.
"I never thought it'd come to this." He confessed.
Logan stared at him through the smoke, "No one ever does."
Xavier sighed, "Perhaps this time, history will not repeat itself."
The computer screen blipped and a large picture loaded.
"That's her."
((Scott))
"...before the assasination of Jeffery Rattner, a threat on his life had already been made by The Brotherhood.
This underground group of assassins succeeded in the 1996 shooting of President Rattner. The investigation
was similar to the assasination of JFK, however in 1998 those involved in the Rattner shooting were
brought to justice and taken to court in May 1998."
Scott stifled a yawn. Not only was American History boring but almost everything was untrue. It was hard
to imagine that any of these stories could be passed off as factual. What was that saying? Ignorance is
Bliss? Apparently so, because every one of Scott's classmates seemed perfectly content to be absorbing
every little lie. He almost wished he could stand up and explain that the ones truly responsible for the
crime were never found. He wanted to explain that The Brotherhood was still running around planning
on terrorists act for whatever cause paid enough.
Still, it must be nice to learn the seemingly useless pieces of information and go
out to play football after school.
Idely, Scott wondered what his father would say.
The teacher droned on, "I'd like you all to get with your study buddy to prepare for tomorrow's pop
quiz."
Scott searched the room for his dubbed 'study buddy'. She sat, slouched as far as humanly possible
in her chair and a pen sticking out of one end of her mouth. He stood to sit next to her.
"Kinda defeats the purpose of calling it a pop quiz, right?" He said lamely.
She looked up, "Huh?"
"She's warning us about a pop quiz so it kinda..forget it." Scott swallowed, for an undercover CIA
agent, he sure felt like a dork.
Her heavily made-up eyes blinked slowly, "Listen.."
"Scott."
"Listen, Scott." She said, jabbing the pen in the air, "I didn't get too much sleep last night. How
about you just read the material out loud? You know, like that sleep study thing?"
Scott almost laughed, "How about you humor me and read this chapter?" He paused, "Fool me. Sleep
with your eyes open."
"You've got balls, Scotty."
"Let's hope so." He replied, opening his text book.
"I'm not great with Math."
Scott tapped the book with a pencil, "We're in history."
She pushed herself up into a half sitting position, "I'm not good with much. So why don't *you* humor
me and leave me the hell alone."
He shrugged, "I'll make a deal with you, Rogue. I'll help you study and if you pass this next quiz
I'll leave you alone. If you don't, well, I guess you're going to be seeing a lot more of me."
Rogue glared at him but she paused, "How'd you know my name?"
Scott grinned, "Here's a better question, what year was President Rattner assassinated?"
((Jean))
By the end of the school day, Jean was beyond ectastic. Her flight took only two hours to arrive
in Maine. The weather was mucky and grim, casting shadows and rain in every which way. The first
to greet her was her mother. Although it had only been a few months, Jean felt strangely emotional
when she was in her mother's arms. She hadn't realized just how homesick she'd become.
The house was just as she'd left it. Humble, cozy and warm. Something had changed. Her father's
favorite bookshelf was no longer settled up against the wall near the fireplace. The absence of it
made her realize just how much she needed to grow up.
"Where's Tina?" Jean asked, referring to her little sister.
Jean's mother smiled, "At school, we didn't tell her you were coming. We'd thought it'd be nice
to surprise her."
"Jeannie, we need to talk to you." Her father explained, landing on the couch with an audible plop.
She sat next to him and waited.
"You're mother and I..." He began and hesitated.
Jean's mother's smile had vanished and a look of sheer resignation took it's place.
"We've decided to seperate."
Silence enveloped the room and Jean was finding it more difficult to breathe. She glanced between
her two parents and when it seemed that neither of them would say anything else she managed a
whisper, "Why?"
Jean tried to listen, honestly, but really it was all the same bullshit, wasn't it? She sat numbly
listening to the two most important people in her life spout words one would only expect on the
Lifetime television network. Of all the terrible personal things in the world, this was the last
thing she had expected.
The only question that repeated itself in her brain was the same old one: why?
The front door squeeked open and what looked like a minature Jean stepped through.
"Jeannie?" Tina squinted before exploding into a shriek and racing across the carpet toward her
older sister.
Overcome with different, indescribable emotions, Jean hugged her little sister with every ounce
of strength. Here she was, one of the most promising CIA operatives in the country and she couldn't
even keep her own family together.
((Kurt))
Kurt zipped up his leather jacket, "Alphabet City?"
"Yeah, kid." Logan replied gruffly, "You know your ABC's?"
Kurt was almost attempted to recite them but decided to keep his mouth shut. The entire team, minus
Jean, Agent X and Ororo were headed toward the tortured slum of Alphabet City. They'd
originally planned on doing the stake-out Friday night, when Jean had left, but postponed it for
Saturday instead.
A Saturday gone wasted, according to Kurt. He had all intentions of asking Kitty out for a movie or
at least some cheese fries..
"Masks." Logan ordered and each of them immediately obeyed.
Kurt grinned under the black fabric, they looked like ninjas. He felt insanely, supremely cool.
With quick hand signals, Logan ordered Kurt and Kitty to move toward the south district. They departed
with nothing more than a head nod.
"Kitty, how are we supposed to know when that girl will come?"
Kitty hissed through her mask, "We don't. We're supposed to be taggin her tonight anyway. And
it's Shadowcat, *Nightcrawler*."
Before he could reply, something large and heavy collided with his back, sending him sprawling to the
pavement. Kurt managed an "Oof" before he was flipped over and jerked up.
"Who sent you? Who sent you?!"
Kurt looked at the figure in front of him, masked and clothed in equally dark gear. The voice didn't
sound familar and for a brief moment, Kurt thought he was being mugged. He cocked his right fist back
as far as it would go and sent a blind punch that hit his attacker square in the face. Kurt scrambled
to his feet.
He watched as Kitty sailed over his head and landed deftly in front of the figure, delivering a swift
kick to the abdomen and another to the head. Staggering, the figure pulled something metallic
and shiney from it's left breast pocket.
Kurt barely registered it was a gun before the figure pointed it at Kitty's head. She dropped to the
ground and swung her right leg around knocking the feet right from under the gunman. The figure's hands
when flailing as he fell.
He heard Kitty's shrilled voice shriek his name when a loud shot rang out and everything went black.
Author: Pinkbishie
Email: feelingpink@alloymail.com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU of X-Men Evolution team as teenage spies
Note:
I've revised parts of the story a bit. Simple things really, no major changes in the
plot. A few characters have been discarded and if you want some mutant power action, go
watch the cartoon.
----------------------------------------------------------------
((Kitty))
Kitty adjusted her locker door a little more to the left, her lip gloss poised just before her
lips. In the reflection of her glued-on mirror she could clearly see Todd's locker and although
his arm partially obstructed her view of the combination, she could count exactly how far he was
turning and in which direction.
She smiled wickedly to herself, "I rock."
Three short beeps signaled the beginning of third period and Todd disappeared around the corner
of the hall.
She waited a few seconds before throwing her strawberry flavored gloss into the mess of random
books and slammed the door. In less then 4 seconds, Kitty had Todd's locker door open and was
rifling through molding sandwiches and other lumps of what used to be food. She did her best
not to gag.
"Boo."
"Christ!" Kitty whipped around, bringing her right knee up and pulling a small switchblade from
her Nine West boots she got on sale for $19.99. Before she could even recognize who it was, her
would-be assailent started to laugh.
"Wow, Kitty!" Kurt said, his grin wide like a cheshire cat, "Some reflexes."
Kitty groaned, "I nearly impaled you."
"Don't sound so disappointed."
She shoved the knife back into her boot angrily, "What do you want? I'm busy."
"I just saw Lance head down here." He glanced up and down the hall, "You didn't see him?"
"Who?" Kitty mumbled, turning away from him and picking greasy packages from the locker. The fact
that she had to go rummaging around some asshole's locker was bad enough but now that Kurt had
decided to show up just made it borderline unbearable. She cringed despite herself, it's not that
Kurt was the worst guy she's ever met but he had this uncanny knack of showing up at the wrong
times and saying unbelievably stupid things.
"So I guess he's not here."
Stupid things like that. "Who are you talking about?" Kitty asked, she picked through the junk
skillfully.
"Lance Alvers, Todd's friend."
Vaguely, she recalled the name. Lance Alvers? Wasn't he the delinquent who practically never came
to school and when he did it was only to get kicked out again? Agent X had brought up the name
a few times in the past month but since it wasn't on the list of priorities, she had promptly
placed it in the back of her mind.
Kitty shrugged. Obviously, he was trying to make weak conversation, "He's an orphan right?"
"Yah," Kurt said. His accent reminded her of those Ricola commercials. Wait, isn't Ricola
Sweedish?
Kitty sighed, facing the stinking locker, "Nothing. Where else would the little bastard
keep his gold?"
One by one, she began to replace every object she had taken out and moved, right down to the
last stick of old, hard gum. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kurt had fallen
uncharacterstically silent and fidgety.
"Kitty, I was wondering-"
"No." She interrupted, closing the locker door and gathering her bookbag up in her arms. Turning
quickly, so as not to give him a chance to ask again, she headed down the hall.
((Xavier))
"Alphabet City?" Xavier asked again, he made a note into the computer and sent it to the mainframe
in Washington.
Logan lifted both boots into the air and settled them on the edge of the computer console, "That's
what my ears heard."
Xavier frowned at the new development. Apparently, The Brotherhood was in the process of recruiting
even more teenagers susceptible to influence. Especially those teenagers who had nothing to lose.
"Alphabet City is the worst neighborhood in NYC. Prime location for deals."
Logan grunted in agreement.
"Using your descriptions, Cerebro should be able to pull up the student's profile. You said she
hadn't committed to the offer yet?"
"I didn't hear her say yes but I didn't hear her say no either," Logan paused, "Get one of the kids
to tag her and we'll head out to Alphabet City when she does."
Xavier considered the suggestion, "Fine. Take Kitty and Kurt with you."
Logan reached into his jacket pocket for a cigar, "Goodie. Maybe we could go for some ice cream
after."
Xavier smirked but turned his attention to the search in progress, "It's so typical for The Brotherhood
to elude us until the last minute. We never know what they're up to until it's too late."
"That's because it's an inside job, Chuck." Logan replied between puffs of thick cigar smoke, "You
know it and I know it."
Raven Darkholme and Eric Lensherr were the leaders of the Brotherhood assassination organization. The
organization that threatened the very existance government itself. And to think, Xavier thought
bitterly, that they had once been his partners. Painful memories of trusting times and betrayal flooded
his thought.
"I never thought it'd come to this." He confessed.
Logan stared at him through the smoke, "No one ever does."
Xavier sighed, "Perhaps this time, history will not repeat itself."
The computer screen blipped and a large picture loaded.
"That's her."
((Scott))
"...before the assasination of Jeffery Rattner, a threat on his life had already been made by The Brotherhood.
This underground group of assassins succeeded in the 1996 shooting of President Rattner. The investigation
was similar to the assasination of JFK, however in 1998 those involved in the Rattner shooting were
brought to justice and taken to court in May 1998."
Scott stifled a yawn. Not only was American History boring but almost everything was untrue. It was hard
to imagine that any of these stories could be passed off as factual. What was that saying? Ignorance is
Bliss? Apparently so, because every one of Scott's classmates seemed perfectly content to be absorbing
every little lie. He almost wished he could stand up and explain that the ones truly responsible for the
crime were never found. He wanted to explain that The Brotherhood was still running around planning
on terrorists act for whatever cause paid enough.
Still, it must be nice to learn the seemingly useless pieces of information and go
out to play football after school.
Idely, Scott wondered what his father would say.
The teacher droned on, "I'd like you all to get with your study buddy to prepare for tomorrow's pop
quiz."
Scott searched the room for his dubbed 'study buddy'. She sat, slouched as far as humanly possible
in her chair and a pen sticking out of one end of her mouth. He stood to sit next to her.
"Kinda defeats the purpose of calling it a pop quiz, right?" He said lamely.
She looked up, "Huh?"
"She's warning us about a pop quiz so it kinda..forget it." Scott swallowed, for an undercover CIA
agent, he sure felt like a dork.
Her heavily made-up eyes blinked slowly, "Listen.."
"Scott."
"Listen, Scott." She said, jabbing the pen in the air, "I didn't get too much sleep last night. How
about you just read the material out loud? You know, like that sleep study thing?"
Scott almost laughed, "How about you humor me and read this chapter?" He paused, "Fool me. Sleep
with your eyes open."
"You've got balls, Scotty."
"Let's hope so." He replied, opening his text book.
"I'm not great with Math."
Scott tapped the book with a pencil, "We're in history."
She pushed herself up into a half sitting position, "I'm not good with much. So why don't *you* humor
me and leave me the hell alone."
He shrugged, "I'll make a deal with you, Rogue. I'll help you study and if you pass this next quiz
I'll leave you alone. If you don't, well, I guess you're going to be seeing a lot more of me."
Rogue glared at him but she paused, "How'd you know my name?"
Scott grinned, "Here's a better question, what year was President Rattner assassinated?"
((Jean))
By the end of the school day, Jean was beyond ectastic. Her flight took only two hours to arrive
in Maine. The weather was mucky and grim, casting shadows and rain in every which way. The first
to greet her was her mother. Although it had only been a few months, Jean felt strangely emotional
when she was in her mother's arms. She hadn't realized just how homesick she'd become.
The house was just as she'd left it. Humble, cozy and warm. Something had changed. Her father's
favorite bookshelf was no longer settled up against the wall near the fireplace. The absence of it
made her realize just how much she needed to grow up.
"Where's Tina?" Jean asked, referring to her little sister.
Jean's mother smiled, "At school, we didn't tell her you were coming. We'd thought it'd be nice
to surprise her."
"Jeannie, we need to talk to you." Her father explained, landing on the couch with an audible plop.
She sat next to him and waited.
"You're mother and I..." He began and hesitated.
Jean's mother's smile had vanished and a look of sheer resignation took it's place.
"We've decided to seperate."
Silence enveloped the room and Jean was finding it more difficult to breathe. She glanced between
her two parents and when it seemed that neither of them would say anything else she managed a
whisper, "Why?"
Jean tried to listen, honestly, but really it was all the same bullshit, wasn't it? She sat numbly
listening to the two most important people in her life spout words one would only expect on the
Lifetime television network. Of all the terrible personal things in the world, this was the last
thing she had expected.
The only question that repeated itself in her brain was the same old one: why?
The front door squeeked open and what looked like a minature Jean stepped through.
"Jeannie?" Tina squinted before exploding into a shriek and racing across the carpet toward her
older sister.
Overcome with different, indescribable emotions, Jean hugged her little sister with every ounce
of strength. Here she was, one of the most promising CIA operatives in the country and she couldn't
even keep her own family together.
((Kurt))
Kurt zipped up his leather jacket, "Alphabet City?"
"Yeah, kid." Logan replied gruffly, "You know your ABC's?"
Kurt was almost attempted to recite them but decided to keep his mouth shut. The entire team, minus
Jean, Agent X and Ororo were headed toward the tortured slum of Alphabet City. They'd
originally planned on doing the stake-out Friday night, when Jean had left, but postponed it for
Saturday instead.
A Saturday gone wasted, according to Kurt. He had all intentions of asking Kitty out for a movie or
at least some cheese fries..
"Masks." Logan ordered and each of them immediately obeyed.
Kurt grinned under the black fabric, they looked like ninjas. He felt insanely, supremely cool.
With quick hand signals, Logan ordered Kurt and Kitty to move toward the south district. They departed
with nothing more than a head nod.
"Kitty, how are we supposed to know when that girl will come?"
Kitty hissed through her mask, "We don't. We're supposed to be taggin her tonight anyway. And
it's Shadowcat, *Nightcrawler*."
Before he could reply, something large and heavy collided with his back, sending him sprawling to the
pavement. Kurt managed an "Oof" before he was flipped over and jerked up.
"Who sent you? Who sent you?!"
Kurt looked at the figure in front of him, masked and clothed in equally dark gear. The voice didn't
sound familar and for a brief moment, Kurt thought he was being mugged. He cocked his right fist back
as far as it would go and sent a blind punch that hit his attacker square in the face. Kurt scrambled
to his feet.
He watched as Kitty sailed over his head and landed deftly in front of the figure, delivering a swift
kick to the abdomen and another to the head. Staggering, the figure pulled something metallic
and shiney from it's left breast pocket.
Kurt barely registered it was a gun before the figure pointed it at Kitty's head. She dropped to the
ground and swung her right leg around knocking the feet right from under the gunman. The figure's hands
when flailing as he fell.
He heard Kitty's shrilled voice shriek his name when a loud shot rang out and everything went black.