Life on Shaw's sub was becoming crowded and boring. When Shaw went out he really only took John and Wade with him. When he needed muscle he brought Freddie. John wasn't half the teleporter Azazel was but he got the job done. Angel and Janos were left behind like forgotten toys with the rest of the men. Bradley, Freddie, Zero, and Logan got along fine with Angel and Janos but Victor was clearly the odd man out. He took to bullying Bradley to cope with his feelings and leering at Angel every chance he got. Victor didn't realize his behavior was what isolated him from the others. Logan made excuses and apologized for him over and over but nothing ever changed. Once again Shaw had left the sub with John and Freddie. Trying to keep the peace, Logan invited Victor to join the group in a card game. Victor was usually left out of such activities and readily joined them, taking a seat next to Bradley. Wade dealt the cards and they conversed about trivial things. The weather, submarine life, nuclear war. Nothing out of the ordinary. It seemed like peace was on the schedule for the day when a fight broke out because Bradley caught Victor cheating. The situation escalated and became violent, Victor picked Bradley up by his throat and shook him. The lights flickered as Bradley started to lose consciousness. Zero and Wade were trying to get Bradley out of Victor's grasp while Logan pleaded with him. Having had enough, Angel unfurled her wings and spit a fireball at Victor, sliding into a fighter's stance. Janos tried to hold her back but Angel was strong, especially with her wings out. The fireball startled him and Victor dropped Bradley on the floor. Wade knelt and checked him for major injuries.
"Why pick on him when you can bully someone smaller?" spat Angel in challenge. It was like everything happened at once. Zero and Logan lunged forward to grab Victor but he slipped out of their grasp. Janos stepped in front of Angel and tried to generate a whirlwind to stop Victor but he was thrown across the room before anyone could blink. Victor seized Angel and lifted her into the air, her wings fluttered uselessly.
"Put her down, Victor!" yelled Wade, drawing one of his swords. Victor just grinned at him and grabbed one of Angel's wings. She screamed in agony as he started to pull. He would have ripped her wings out if Zero hadn't shot him. The bullet landed right between his eyes and he dropped Angel. She scrambled across the room and Wade caught her in his arms. Her wings slapped him in the face as she hyperventilated and shed tears of panic.
"It's okay, it's over." Wade whispered down into her hair. Angel relaxed and retracted her wings. Zero put a few more bullets in Victor so he stayed down. With Victor down they all turned on Logan.
"You were supposed to make sure this didn't ever happen again." Snapped Zero.
"Look what he almost did to Bradley and Angel. He put Whirlwind's lights out," said Wade, gesturing to Janos who was still on the floor "You have to get rid of him, Logan."
They were all staring at him as if he'd committed Victor's crimes himself. It was not his fault they were brothers. Logan agreed with the others to put him in the brig until he could be sent back to Stryker. As Victor healed they didn't realize it was too little, too late. They had a time-bomb on the sub with them, ready to explode.
The next day of training ran far smoother than the first. Azazel was the first one awake, as usual and he had the coffee machine churning out cups for his teammates. He had mugs lined up on the counter spaced perfectly apart like soldiers. Azazel could be obsessively neat at times. He was wearing plain grey sweats like the others with a hole cut in the back for his tail. He sat on a stool and started wrapping the tip of his tail with hand wraps like a boxer would wear under gloves. When he looked up Raven was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Human today, he noticed. He preferred the blue goddess but made no comment on her appearance. His eyes trailed down to her injured hand and he looked away sadly, cursing himself for harming her. He silently filled a mug for her and passed her the fresh coffee.
"Thanks," she said, taking the seat next to him "Here, let me."
She put down her coffee and gingerly took his tail in her lap. She finished wrapping the razor sharp tip and tucked the ends in snugly.
"Thank you, devochka," he said "Are you healing well?" he gestured to her hand.
"It's nothing, just a scratch." Said Raven.
"Bravery and beauty," said Azazel "My heart aches for you."
He dramatically put his hand over his heart as is he were making a pledge. Raven blushed and their moment was ruined by Erik and Charles entering the kitchen, sweaty from their morning run .
" How sweet, team bonding." Said Erik sarcastically. Charles was silently sending Raven disapproving thoughts but she blocked them. Azazel was already up and filling mugs for Charles and Erik
"Good morning, comrades." He said as he passed them their mugs. They were joined by the rest of the team filing into the kitchen for breakfast. Hank hung all over Raven and kissed her on the cheek every time Azazel looked their way. The excess testosterone in the room was stifling to Moira and Raven so breakfast was over fairly quickly. Charles wanted to work with Sean today so they left with Moira and Erik herded the young mutants to the weight room to train with Azazel. They started with simple drills and stretching then Azazel paired them off to spar. Still being injured, Raven was left out of the sparring to lift weights. This left Hank without a sparring partner and Azazel volunteered himself. He didn't realize everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch his match with Hank. Acting as a referee, Alex counted out from three to one and signaled for the match to start.
Hank threw himself at Azazel with all of his force and pinned him against the wall , wanting to show off for Raven. Azazel used his tail to flip Hank backwards and onto the ground.
"Nyet. Again." Said Azazel, helping him up. This went on for a while and the other mutants went back to their individual training.
"You know they're battling for you." Erik said quietly to Raven. She was lifting a barbell with her uninjured hand and Erik was using his power to bring two huge weights up and down.
"That's silly. I'm with Hank." Replied Raven.
"Our red friend doesn't care," said Erik "Who will win your heart, Raven?"
Their conversation was interrupted by Hank pounding his fist on the floor after Azazel dropped him again.
"This is stupid!" yelled Hank. He sprang to his feet and stormed out of the room. Once he was out of earshot Alex said to Azazel
"You didn't have to humiliate him in front of Raven."
"This is training, if he no train he no learn." Azazel feigned innocence.
"That was a cock fight if I've ever seen one." Erik called him out.
Raven had no idea how to broach the situation so she followed Hank to the room he was using as a lab. He punched the wall and cursed, shaking his hand out.
"Can't you see what he's doing?" Hank said to her "He's trying to drive a wedge between us."
"Azazel doesn't need to, you're doing it yourself." Raven fired back at him. They heard footsteps coming toward them and Charles came into the room with Moira and Sean. It was obvious they had walked in on a lover's quarrel.
"I hate to interrupt but I wanted to test your theory, Hank," Said Charles "Did you make the wings?"
"I'm going to die." Said Sean. He was not joking. Hank lit up and started talking at a rapid pace about supersonic sound waves. Sean stood still and held out his arms as Hank fastened yellow and black kite-like wings to his shoulders with straps and buckles. "This is not going to work." Said Sean, flapping the flimsy wings.
"Come here and hang out the window, there's a good chap." Said Charles as Sean went to do as instructed. Raven and Moira hung out the other window so they could watch the outcome of Hank's experiment. Azazel, Erik, and Alex had moved their training outside and were watching Sean from the yard. Hank and Charles leaned out of the window on either side of Sean, encouraging him to jump.
"Scream as loud as you can, if you fall Azazel will catch you," said Charles "Right, Azazel?" he called down to the other mutants. Azazel waved to signal he understood.
"Don't forget to scream." Said Hank. Sean crossed himself and looked down at the bushes. He spread his arms and emitting a single scream, he jumped. The bushes rushed to greet him and he crash-landed into them. He heard laughter from the windows above him and the mutants in the yard with him were on the ground in stitches. Even Azazel was on his knees laughing while Alex and Erik rolled around him. Finally Azazel teleported over to Sean and helped him out of the bushes.
"Why didn't you catch me?" asked Sean.
"Forgive me comrade, I was busy watching you fall." Azazel replied. They both erupted into peals of laughter and the drama of the day was forgotten. Azazel had a way of bringing everyone together without even realizing it. He was also ripping them apart from the inside. Hank stood on one side of the metaphorical rift, Azazel on the other. The rest of them scattered in between. Where would Raven land?
Author's note: sorry for the short chapter I wrote it in a hurry. What couples would you like to see more of? Which characters should be featured more? Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be up soon, don't forget to leave a review.