Author's Note: Firstly, welcome back and thank you for the reviews! I do like to see familiar names popping up in my inbox. Secondly, a nice long chapter here although much of it has been butchered from old stories so sorry for repeating myself but we are just scene setting and it's so hard to think of plausible reasons for the Brotherhood and x-men to get in contact. Thirdly – hold your horses people! Jamie and Piotr haven't even been properly introduced yet and you're wanting them in bed already? I haven't even plotted their first kiss yet…

Disclaimer: Don't own the x-men but I will stake my claim on the uber-cuteness of Jinx and Tommy and Abi if they pop up!

Sleeping With the Enemy

Chapter 02

Finally Piotr and Bobby managed to usher all the inquisitive children back into the mansion. With a heavy sigh Bobby ran his hands through his hair, turning to look to where the new Brotherhood mutant was still working on fixing the helicopter.

"I don't like this," the ice mutant muttered. "The Brotherhood crash land in the garden and Ororo doesn't even bat an eyelid?"

Piotr arched an eyebrow, also turning his attention towards the identical males hurrying around the helicopter.

"Something's up," the Russian agreed. Bobby cast one more unimpressed look over the battered helicopter before looking up at Piotr.

"I'm gonna head down to the medical lab," he said with a quick nod. "You be ok?"

"Yeah, on you go," Piotr waved him off, although he sighed quietly as he was left alone. Looking back up, he noticed that Ororo had come out to speak to the mutant working on the helicopter. After a quick conversation she turned back towards the mansion, gesturing for Piotr to wait.

"Bobby gone down to the medical lab?" she asked with a knowing arch of the eyebrow, giving a quick, unsurprised nod as Piotr confirmed he had. "Yeah – I don't suppose John's going to be all that reassured by the fact that Marie has training as a nurse. Ok, well Jamie is going to try and get the helicopter into the hanger before it gets dark. I'm going to go and open up the basketball court now – could you just stay out here and make sure the kids stay inside?"

"Yeah, sure," Piotr forced a smile. It was not like he had anything else to do…

"Thank you," Storm gave another nod and scurried off. Piotr just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the garden, looking up at the darkening sky. He looked sharply to the side as he heard the sound of the basketball court sliding back to open up the expansive underground hanger.

"So they're staying then?"

Piotr's lips curled up into a slight smirk although he did not look round to the source of the voice.

"No kids allowed outside."

"We're not kids!" came the predictable objection. Piotr laughed.

"Demi-kids then," the Russian crossed his arms and turned to look down at the bright purple hair in front of him, making a point of having to look way down at the student in front of him. As he'd expected the younger mutant's face screwed up.

"I'm not that short!" Jinx objected, standing up as straight as he could, but he was still at least a foot shorter than the Russian. The blonde boy standing next to him rolled his eyes.

"Stop winding him up! I have to put up with him the rest of the night!" he pouted. Piotr arched an eyebrow.

"You're the one wanting to share a room with him on a more permanent basis," he pointed out with an amused smile. Tommy grinned but otherwise did not reply. Piotr just shook his head at the two. Among the older of the students the two were starting to help with classes, in particular Piotr's, ready to make the transition from students to teachers, just like Piotr, Bobby, Kitty and Marie had already done. Part of Piotr's training team – assigned by Storm to allow the older mutants to train up more X-Men – the Russian had developed something of a soft spot for the pair. He'd guided them through classes, X-Men training and coming out (and every little tiff that had followed…).

"So what's going on?" Jinx prompted. Piotr shrugged.

"You guys know as much as I do," he admitted. Jinx curled his lip up, looking over at the helicopter.

"Who's he?"

Again Piotr shrugged.

"Jamie, apparently."

Tommy cocked his head to the side slightly as he too looked over at the helicopter.

"He's cute."

"Hey!" Jinx scowled heavily, shoving Tommy – albeit lightly – back towards the mansion. "Get back inside!"

Piotr chuckled quietly as the younger boys disappeared again. Shaking his head he looked back out over the garden, arching an eyebrow at the figure still hard at work on the broken helicopter. The kid did have a point…

After several more minutes – and with light fading fast – the identical figures all morphed into one, rounding the helicopter and climbing into the pilot seat. With a loud churning noise the helicopter started up, rising unsteadily into the air but only far enough to maneuver it over the basketball court. Piotr watched carefully as the unsafe looking machine was lowered under the ground, waiting until the basketball court slid back over before finally turning to make his way back indoors. His attention was caught again however by the low rumble of an approaching engine. Looking back over his shoulder he arched an eyebrow as a shiny red sports car drew up the driveway, driving through the gate that opened upon it's approach. Perhaps this was Mystique arriving as Ororo had promised? Maybe now they would get some answers…

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Sure enough about twenty minutes later the call came summoning the older mutants to Storm's office. Obligingly Piotr made his way towards the stairs to head for the first floor room but he paused as he noticed Warren just down the corridor also heading for the stairs.

"Hey Pete," the blonde offered a smile of greeting, albeit tinged with apprehension. "You seen the news?"

"No, I've been outside most of the evening," the Russian replied. Warren took a deep breath as the two started to ascend the stairs.

"Some medical research lab was just destroyed upstate. Obliterated. No prizes for guessing who just did that eh?"

Piotr arched an eyebrow. It didn't really take much of a stretch of the imagination. Reaching the top of the stairs he looked ahead and noticed Bobby and Marie appear from one of the side corridors, from the direction of the stairs leading down to the medical lab.

"So, how's Pyro?" Piotr asked with an arched eyebrow as he approached the two. Bobby scowled.

"He'll live," he muttered. "Have you seen the news?"

"Yeah," Warren nodded. "What are those two saying about it?"

"Not much," Bobby frowned. "Pyro's just being all coy and self righteous and the other guy is just… smirking."

Piotr gave a wry, understanding smile. Sounded like Pyro…

"Are the two of them joining us in Storm's office?" he asked. Marie nodded.

"Yeah, they're just a bit behind. John can't walk that fast but he says he remembers the way."

"Well, he spent enough time in the teachers offices," Piotr pointed out lightly, hoping to ease the mood slightly although it did not really work. The four made their way to the office in silence, finding Ororo, Hank, Logan and Kitty already there – along with Mystique. The shapeshifter arched an eyebrow as the four entered, her lip curling up slightly.

"Good evening," she greeted with an amused sparkle in her eye, smirking as no-one replied, the four simple taking seats at the side of the room next to their friends and colleagues.

"So are you going to tell us what's going on?" Logan growled, eyeing Mystique suspiciously. The shapeshifter glanced at him briefly before returning her attention to scrutinizing her nails.

"Patience is a virtue you know."

"Logan," Ororo held up a hand to stop Logan's advance. The male growled slightly but stayed where he was, keeping his narrowed eyes firmly on the blue figure sitting in front of Ororo. Mystique looked back up.

"Where's Pyro?" she tried to keep the concern from her voice. Storm smiled softly.

"He and Multiple Man are on their way. His leg is worse than he would have you believe."

The shapeshifter just rolled her eyes. Typical Pyro. Finally the pyrokinetic was helped into the office by his multiplying companion, his muttered curses just audible as he slumped against the wall in the corner, too stubborn to take a seat. Multiple Man stood next to him, shaking his head in amusement at the shorter mutant. A short silence fell over the room.

"Well come on then," Logan said bluntly, looking between Mystique and Storm. The latter sighed quietly.

"Mystique and I have been in touch for a few months," she admitted, holding up a hand as Logan opened his mouth. "We've been… exchanging information. That government controlled medical research base Pyro and Multiple Man just shut down is…"

"Destroyed."

"The clinic they shut down," Storm continued, ignoring Logan's scowl. "They were doing tests on mutants against their will to extract their mutated DNA."

"What?" Marie was the first to voice the confusion on everyone's faces. "But why would they do that?"

"To inject humans," Mystique replied bluntly. "A high class steroid. They want to create super-humans – soldiers who can duplicate, heal themselves, control their environment and god knows what else."

There was a short silence.

"Well…is it really such a bad thing to have soldiers who can heal themselves?" Logan shrugged. "They…"

"The mutants they were testing on were all dead," Mystique snapped. "And the humans they have injected with the samples they have so far are all seriously ill or crazy."

"Crazy?" Logan arched an eyebrow.

"They had one of my dupes," Multiple Man spoke up. "I'm still trying to figure out my powers. The human couldn't duplicate so they just turned a bit schizo."

Again the silence returned, all in the room mulling over the news.

"So much for our new understanding government," Logan muttered.

"Indeed," Hank frowned heavily. "I have people watching out for things like this but… It's so hard to know who to trust. And I have to be seen to be being… well…" the ambassador smiled wryly. "There are some things that are best left for other people to investigate."

"What exactly are you saying?" Logan looked over the Brotherhood mutants in turn, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Mystique just flashed him a smile, letting Storm answer the question.

"We all have to work together to make sure things like this don't happen again."

All the non-Brotherhood mutants looked at Storm incredulously.

"Work together?" Logan repeated. "Like we worked together at Alkali Lake?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Mystique asked innocently. "I think we were most co-operative."

"Co-operative?" Logan scowled. "You tried to kill all of humanity, left us all to drown and stole one of us."

"I don't remember stealing anyone," Mystique shrugged. In the corner Pyro scowled but stayed silent. Logan looked between Mystique and Storm incredulously.

"Do I have to bring up Alcatraz?"

"Never been to Alcatraz," Mystique shrugged. "Neither has Multiple Man."

Logan crossed his arms defensively.

"You really expect us to work with her?"

"Listen animal," Mystique hissed, leaping to her feet in the blink of an eye. "I'm only going to say this once. We all have had a raw deal from the humans. Erik was torn from his family by the Nazis, my own parents tried to kill me, Multiple Man's parents had him institutionalized and Pyro's parents abandoned him on the streets when he was twelve. For crying out loud most of you are all hiding out in a safe haven for mutants because you've been rejected by your family or friends. Humanity would have us wiped out if they could. All we have ever done is try and get a better deal for mutants," the shapeshifter inhaled sharply but continued quickly. "But the time Erik and I spent amongst said humans brought us both to realise that we had become the very people we sought to fight against. We will not try and eradicate the humans again," she arched an eyebrow in a more characteristic manner. "Not all of them anyway. And like it or not – you're gonna need us."

The x-men regarded the shapeshifter thoughtfully, all slightly taken aback by her words.

"You expect us just to forgive everything you have done?" Marie finally spoke up. Mystique turned to look at her sharply.

"I don't expect anything of you, human."

"Raven…" Storm warned quietly but firmly. Mystique glowered at the use of her given name but stayed silent. "Look, all we're saying is that if we pool our intelligence then we can keep on top of things. Hank has a lot of access to things that Mystique does not and Mystique has access to things Hank does not. Of course things will be…difficult. But there's no reason this can't work."

"But…"

"Logan!" Storm sighed. "Please. Trust me."

The other mutant scowled heavily but stayed silent, giving a small nod. Storm looked around the rest of the mutants and although none of them seemed particularly pleased, no one else offered any objections.

"Well then," Storm gave a nod. "I apologise for the… rushed nature of this meeting. I was hoping to explain this under different circumstances," the veteran x-man looked over the gathered mutants before glancing at the clock. "It's past curfew… Piotr could you quickly go and do the check?"

The Russian suppressed a sigh, offering instead a quick nod as he stood and made his way to the door, his colleagues behind him bursting into conversation.

"Still haven't learned to say no, eh big guy?" Pyro muttered as the Russian past. Piotr curled up his lip.

"Fuck you Allerdyce," he retorted, opening the door next to the fire mutant. Pyro smirked.

"Miss Munro, Piotr just swore at me!" he whined mockingly, chuckling quietly to himself as Ororo just arched an eyebrow at him dubiously.

"Well, I think we're done here," Storm waved a hand dismissively. "You can all go."

Warren and Kitty were the first to leave, making their way out the door quietly and calmly. Marie scoffed and pulled Bobby to his feet, unable to resist glaring at the pyrokinetic as she passed him, even though he did not look up to meet her gaze.

"Is the helicopter flyable?" Mystique turned to address Multiple Man as it became clear Logan wasn't going anywhere. Multiple Man shrugged.

"Maybe."

Storm looked out of the window at the descending darkness.

"It's late," she said calmly. "Perhaps the three of you should stay here tonight? It'll give you longer to properly fix the helicopter."

Mystique arched an eyebrow but Pyro looked up horrified.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Mystique replied, much to the fire mutant's relief. "I have enough room in the car for all of us. Multiple Man can leave behind some dupes. Finish working on the helicopter and get it out of here before morning."

Storm nodded, holding her hands up in acceptance.

"Your decision," she stood to show the visitors out but Mystique raised a hand to stop her.

"I think we can find our own way," she gave a quick nod. "Thank you for your assistance with Pyro's injury."

Storm just sat back down, sighing quietly as the three Brotherhood mutants disappeared from her office. Sure enough Logan turned on her as soon as the door shut.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Logan," Storm said firmly. "Surely even you can see that having them on side, no matter how tentatively, is better then not knowing where they are?" she gave a small nod as Logan paused, a thoughtful expression pulling on his face. "Maybe they will try and betray us again, but we know better this time. We know to keep a closer eye on them."

"When you put it that way…" Logan reluctantly agreed. Storm smiled softly in relief.

"Really Logan, you know I would never put the school or the kids at risk. Mystique and I have talked. We really do have a lot more in common than I had ever imagined."

Logan arched an eyebrow dubiously.

"If you say so. Ok, I trust you. I just don't know that the kids were all that impressed though…"