"We need blood." stated Jean.
The mutants glanced over at her and Warren in surprise. It wasn't the kind of thing you expected when you were playing Scrabble because Peter and Cian were still finishing the beds.
Mickey said, "When did we start living with vampires?"
Tara grinned and Maria rolled her eyes. Nicky had gone outside and climbed a tree. According to Joe she wouldn't come down until she wanted to.
"It's to help continue research into the mutant gene and to see if Cian and Logan's blood will help heal you."
Cian dropped the crate he was carrying and a string of swear words followed.
"Wash your mouth out. Tara's only eleven." said another voice.
Nicky was perched on top of a pile of junk. She was watching the scene with amusement.
"When did you come in?" asked Bobby.
"'Bout ten minutes ago. I have to say, I've never seen such an intense Scrabble game. Logan, I think you're screwed with the letters you've got."
Logan glared up at her. Rogue and Ororo had nagged him to join in until he'd said yes.
"Shut up."
"So loquacious." commented Nicky.
Cian pushed the crate out of the way.
"What do you mean, using my blood to heal people?"
Jean explained, "You and Logan have a mutation that gives your blood healing properties. If it is injected into another person that person will heal for a limited period of time. We need to check that everybody is compatible."
Jean and Warren drew the blood from everybody. Nicky backflipped off the scrap and helped Cian and Peter by using the wind to move crates. Then Jean and Warren retreated to the makeshift hospital/science wing bit and started doing tests. The crates had their lids ripped off and they were flipped on their sides to form beds.
"So… what do we do for bedding?" asked John.
Tara suggested, "I could teleport to my house and get some."
Nicky said, "I brought some. I had them in my hands when I found Mum…"
Her voice tailed off and Logan glanced up at her. The sheets were dragged into the crates and used to line the bottom. Everybody got their own crate.
"Cian, can we personalise it?" asked Tara.
Cian shrugged. "Sure. Just don't wreck it or anything."
Tara beamed and got to work. Scott watched the British kids bickering amicably. Callisto walked over.
"Have you noticed how they already have a hierarchy?"
Scott glanced up. "No but go on. Tell me."
She gave him a level look and asked, "Are you mocking me?"
He shook his head sighing. "No. I just… I can't read them and it's bothering me."
"Maybe you shouldn't read them. Logan's already had a go at Storm, told her not to read Icestorm."
"Really?"
"Yep."
Scott smiled at the thought. "Go on then. Tell me about the hierarchy?"
Callisto sat down on the crate, seriously how many were there?! and studied the six teens.
"Well, the leader's quite obviously Cian. He's got the knack of being a leader. Clever, honest most of the time, skilled at giving orders and his mutations are mostly offensive. That means that he can take care of himself and others in battle which will make his team trust him more. They know he'll be alongside them in any fight. Plus, there's the fact that he can heal and possibly heal others. He can care for them when they're injured; he won't just ditch them to be on their own… like Magneto."
Scott squeezed her hand in response to the last comment. "You can get your revenge on him now."
Callisto nodded, clearly remembering that he'd left Arclight to die. The X-Men had taken her to the X-Mansion but hadn't been able to save her.
"What about Icestorm?"
Callisto smiled. "Where do I start? She's the deputy, whether the others realise it or not. She's balanced enough to see both ways to go. Plus, her mutation complements Cian's. Between them they make a pretty good team. He's hot-headed and rushes into fights. Nicky can beat him in a straight-out fight using only their mutations. She's loyal, meaning her advice won't be based on what will gain her the most respect within the team; it'll be on what's best for everyone. They know, subconsciously, that she can take care of herself and anyone else she needs to in a fight and in the aftermath she'll be able to heal herself with no help due to the whole ice-healing thing. And… she's coping with grief they can't imagine but she's hiding it so they aren't worried. That's what makes her such a good lieutenant. Cian doesn't have to worry as much about her, he can focus on the whole group and Nicky will work through her problems on her own while caring for Cian."
Scott laughed. "Are you sure you're not telepathic?"
Callisto rolled her eyes. "My mutation allows me to sense things like that."
"Yeah I know."
They watched Tara and John bickering over a sheet, Kitty and Peter smiling shyly at each other and Rogue and Bobby kissing. Mickey and Joe were snickering at them.
"Tell me about Joe and Mickey." said Scott.
He loved to listen to Callisto profiling people. Late at night when neither of them could sleep he got her to profile all the X-Men.
"Joe's the warrior quite clearly. All his mutations are for fighting but the wings mean he can help out other people in a scrap. Plus he's got the balls to make sure Nicky isn't overdoing herself, which I don't think even Cian has the balls. He likes getting into fights and winning. So he'll probably be the main one Cian takes with him on confrontational missions. He can protect himself against most attacks as well. When their team gets bigger I think Joe will be one of the more respected members."
Callisto watched the Brits arguing. Nicky was perched back on the pile of junk, Cian and Mickey were arguing about football (soccer to you Americans) and Joe and Maria were bickering over something else. Tara had curled into her bed.
"Mickey?"
"Glad you asked. Mickey's going to be the one that makes the leadership stronger by challenging them. Every time Cian meets his challenge he'll gain a little more respect from his teammates and in return Mickey will earn their respect as someone who's not afraid to speak out if he's concerned. He'll be one of the main recruiters as well. I suspect Cian will send him out on solo missions as well. His primary mutation is confrontational so he can take care of himself in fights as well as the fact that he can sense other mutants and lies making him an ideal spy."
Maria had flounced off and curled up in a corner. Nicky called down to her. Maria sent a jet of water to her which Nicky instantly froze.
"Better luck next time!"
"Looks like Maria and Nicky don't get on well." commented Scott.
Callisto smirked. "Maria likes Cian. She's jealous of the fact that Nicky and Cian get on so well. Plus, she believes that she would be a better leader and so when the others follow Nicky or Cian's orders she gets angry. She thinks she's better than all of them and therefore should lead. But it's for those reasons that she shouldn't be a leader. Sooner or later she's going to realise that her pointless jealousy is preventing her from bonding with the rest of the team and she's going to regret it. Then she'll try and be a suck-up to Cian and Nicky but she'll only to do that to try and unbalance the dynamic and send Nicky off course."
"Quite a bitch."
"Yep."
Seconds later Tara teleported into the kitchen to grab a drink before walking through the wall.
"Y'know you're just showin' off don't you?" asked Nicky.
"Yeah. But you show off all the time."
Nicky grinned.
"Shadow?"
"Well… she's the youngest in the group by far so she feels she has to prove herself. Which means that she disobeys orders to prove she can do it. Which in turn really pisses Cian off and really really pisses Nicky off. But she is a good fighter and a good escapist so she'll probably be used to get the group out of scrapes. But… I think that she'll also be used on recruitment missions. And also, the fact that she has a blood tie to Nicky means that status-wise she's quite high-up in the group."
Scott smiled at her. "Did I tell you that you're a genius?"
Callisto laughed. She liked Scott; she liked more than she ought to. She still had blood on her hands after all. Plus, Jean and Scott had set the date for their wedding. That was something Callisto refused to think about.
"Alright! That's enough! The X-Men are going to train the mutants who share their powers."
"In the X-Unit." called Cian. "We chose a name."
"I still think Chrome's Dudes is a better name." commented Joe.
Nicky rolled her eyes. "Yes but you're a dickhead."
"Fair point."
"Anyway!" shouted Scott. "Logan would like to speak to you."
Logan stepped forwards. "Thanks Scoot. It's not enough to rely on ya powers, no matter how strong they are. Ya need weapons, extra ones, in case ya can't use ya powers or a someone puts a mutation suppressor on ya. So we found weapons."
"I'm guessin' you loved that, right?" drawled Cian.
Nicky aimed a swift kick at him. "Play nicely. This guy's made out of metal. He can cut your claws."
"Ouch." he muttered.
Logan glared at them before pointing to the makeshift training corner. It was only called that because that was where most of the junk was dumped and nobody could be bothered moving it so they called it an obstacle course. The six teens swarmed over. Nicky jumped over their heads and picked up the bow. She slotted an arrow into it and shot it over Mickey's head to hit the X mark on the wall.
"Have you used a bow and arrow before?" asked Ororo.
Nicky shrugged. "Nope."
"Then you are a natural."
Nicky grinned and hopped out of the way to let the others choose their weapons. Maria shot her a black look. Nicky gave her the sunniest up-yours smile possible before muttering something that caused Bobby and John to snigger.
"Be quiet." snapped Scott.
Cian ignored Nicky's muttered insult to Maria. Instead he picked up the war hammer. It was perfect. He turned to the metal wall Peter and Logan had dragged in to protect the medical corner. He took a deep breath and felt the energy running through his body as he charged the hammer. Then he smashed the hammer down onto the metal. A loud BANGfollowed and Cian was blasted backwards. He landed flat on his back, still clutching the heavy war hammer in his hand.
"Jesus Christ!" shouted somebody as Cian sat up.
"Ouch."
"Dick." said Mickey. "Have you seen the wall?"
Cian turned to look. The steel wall had a huge dent in it.
"I think ya found ya weapon." commented Logan.
"Yep."
Maria flashed a congratulatory grin at Cian but it was ignored as he walked over to Nicky. She bit back a sigh as she turned to look at the array of weapons. Unlike all the others who had fallen over each other to get to know the X-Men she didn't like them. They all loved Nicky too for some reason. In Maria's opinion she was rude, arrogant and downright unpleasant. She picked up the bracelets and clicked the switch before putting it to Logan's arm. He yelped and fell to the floor.
"FUCKIN' ELECTRIC BRACELETS! YA PUT IT ON FULL FUCKIN' VOLTAGE! SOMEONE GET HER THE FUCK OUTTA MY VIEW!"
"You heard the man. Move aside." smirked Bobby.
Maria hurriedly stepped away. She liked these bracelets. They looked good and fought well.
"Nicely done." commented Joe.
He and Mickey shared a smirk as they turned to look at the rest. Joe picked up the metal gloves and clicked a little switch inside. His hands were balled into fists inside them. Three small spikes popped out, covered in a dark substance.
"Logan, what's the stuff on the spikes?"
"Poison. It's a double thing. Click the little switches and they'll go inside."
Joe clicked the switch, turned to metal and punched the wall. Another dent appeared.
"I like 'em." he said.
Mickey grinned over at his friend before picking up the shield. He tossed it from one arm to the other before turning to face Cian.
"Charge me."
Cian popped his claws and ran forwards. He sprang into the air and brought his claws down on the shield. They broke. Cian let out an agonised howl as he punched the shield in fury. Mickey brought the shield down and charged Cian, knocking into him with the shield. The taller mutant went hurtling backwards, smashing into the metal wall and denting it even further.
"I think we need a new wall." remarked Nicky.
"Ow. Fuckin' bastard." muttered Cian as he pulled himself to his feet.
Tara picked up the Taser. "Is this an ordinary Taser?"
"Hell no. Have a little faith kid. It's super-powerful. Ya stick that up ta 7.5 volts that thing's like Ro in a storm. 6 blasts it up to Icegirl's standard."
"Icestorm!" shouted Nicky as she shot an arrow into his knee.
Logan glared at her. They were about to argue when Jean and Warren reappeared holding the blood sample.
"We have good news, and…interesting news." said Warren.
"Now I'm intrigued." smiled Mickey.
"The good news," continued Warren, "is that all of you are compatible with Logan and Cian's blood."
"The interesting news is that two of you are related." said Jean sombrely.
"Well no shit Sherlock. Me and Tara are cousins."
Jean looked at Nicky for a moment before continuing. "No. One of the X-Unit and one of the X-Men are related."
Go on! Guess who it is! If you guess right I'll mention you in all my introductions!