Disclaimer – once more, of the following only the plot is mine, Marvel owns everything else.

Chapter the Third

Devious Minds

The sound of a lighter snapping open woke Pyro from a dead sleep. He struggled to open his eyes as the smell of a cigarette infiltrated his senses. Letting out a soft moan the pyromaniac glanced at the green glow of the alarm clock beside the bed before pushing himself into a sitting position. It was exactly 3:13 in the morning, not exactly his idea of a good time for a cigarette break. Running a hand over his face Pyro glanced over at the open apartment window where Lorna stood with a cigarette in her hand. A cocky grin flitted onto his face as he realized she was wearing his button up shirt from earlier in the day. It actually didn't look half bad on her, but then again, Pyro hadn't had any problems with it a few hours ago either when Lorna had helped him take it off. The girl had talent; that much was for sure.

Apparently Lorna was lost in thought for she hadn't seemed to notice Pyro waking up. The nineteen year old glanced around at the floor before moving to place his feet on the wooden ground to lean over and grab his pants from a small pile of clothes. After disentangling a bra from one of his pant legs Pyro was able to pull the article of clothing on before standing up and making his way over to the window. The green haired teen was leaning against one side, and as Pyro got closer he could see several of the top buttons of his shirt left unbuttoned. He couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face as he took the cigarette from her fingers and placed it in his mouth. He then sat himself down on the windowsill with his back facing the night sky.

Lorna pressed her lips into a pout as she glanced at Pyro. "Couldn't you have just gotten one of your own?" she asked.

"What, and not piss you off? That isn't how I work, Princess, you know that."

"You're such an asshole, you know that?"

"Uh-huh, tell me, is this how you treat all your one night stands? Or am I just lucky?"

"You should be thanking me for giving you the time of day, Johnny. You aren't even my type."

"First of all, it's night, and secondly," pointed out Pyro as he blew out some smoke in Lorna's face, "I'm everybody's type."

Lorna narrowed her eyes and looked to be moving to walk away when Pyro put out a hand to stop her, gripping her arm firmly. "You need to stop acting like a spoiled little brat, Lorna. If you want people to take you seriously here you can't keep having temper tantrums if you don't get your way. I thought we made a deal that if you're going to be working with me you'd start listening and learning how to a member of the Brotherhood and not Lorna's little fantasy army."

"I only agreed to sleep with you if you let me work with you," snarled Lorna.

Pyro nodded but didn't let go of Lorna's arm. Seconds ticked by as the pair continued to avoid eye contact, Pyro smoking the cigarette and Lorna fuming. Close to a minute later Pyro felt Lorna's arm grow slack in his hand. He allowed his gaze to move in her direction, frowning when he saw the look of defeat on her face.

"What am I doing here, Johnny?" questioned Lorna softly. "This isn't my world. I belong home with my adoptive parents living the life I thought I had been born too. Money, cars, expensive jewelry, designer clothes, and guys on their way to becoming the next Donald Trump—that's my life; not any of this. I'm spoiled, I'm shallow, I'm a bitch—how the hell does that make me a leader for the Brotherhood? I should just go back home."

"Yeah, you could do that," agreed Pyro after a moment, "but you're forgetting the little breakout you staged earlier today. You killed people, Lorna. You were harassed by humans all your life. I've heard all the stories. Remember last year when we were drunk and you started going on about that guy you dated…what was his name?"

"Alex."

"Yeah, him. You said he treated you differently after you told him you were a mutant. He started acting like you weren't even there, stopped returning your phone calls, and then even took another date with him to your birthday party. It's because of people like him that we're still going, Lorna. We could have disbanded after Alcatraz, but we didn't."

Lorna snorted. "Yeah, while it's nice to hear you giving a pep talk, John, it isn't working. You've been in jail since Alcatraz. The only reason we're still going is because Wanda and Pietro rallied the team together again. I'll never be like them no matter how hard I try. Magneto may agree and say I'm his daughter, but he never went out of his way to make me feel welcome like he did with Wanda and Pietro. It's like I'm scum. It's like I'm a goddamn third wheel in my own family."

Raising his eyebrows Pyro let go of Lorna's arm to slip an arm around her waist, pulling her body towards his. "I thought you hated families," he stated putting his cigarette out on the windowsill.

The green haired teen shrugged, her eyes still avoiding Pyro's. "I hate my adoptive parents. I hate Pietro and Wanda. I want to hate Magneto, but I can't. He's all I have, and now even he's gone." Finally, her green eyes gazed down into Pyro's, allowing him a glimpse of something he hadn't quite seen in the teen before. There was a sense of loss in her eyes, and fear. "I have nowhere else to go, that's why I'm still fighting to belong here. If Pietro or Wanda decided to kick me out I'd be lost. The only reason I joined the Brotherhood was because of my father…and ever since then I've been trying to prove that I belong here, that I'm a Lensherr, but no one wants to give me a chance. I'm not given any tasks to do, and I had to work my ass off to get people like Avalanche and Blob to consider working with me."

"It helps you've got Caliban."

"And I've only got him on my side because I knew he was the one giving Callisto the feed on finding all the other mutants before she was killed. She was a phony. Her only skill was her agility, but everyone else bought her high and mighty act like she was some sort of god."

Pyro shrugged. "It's not like Caliban was letting one else know it was him doing all the seeking."

"No."

"You ever find out the reason why he decided to confide that little secret with you of all people?"

"Maybe it's my way with people," suggested Lorna with a small grin on her face, her hands moving up to Pyro's bare shoulders.

"You don't have a way with people, Princess. You just boss them around until they get tired of hearing you talk so they decide to do as you say just to get you to shut up."

"I got you into bed, didn't I?"

"It's been a while since I've gotten laid, and that was part of the bargain if I let you tag along for a while on missions."

"Mmm-hmm."

"And in case you haven't noticed, the Brotherhood is a little low in the female membership department. I'm desperate."

Lorna raised her own eyebrows, her face etched in a manner that clearly stated she didn't believe the pyromaniac one bit. Pyro studied her for a moment, his lips twitching in amusement. "What do you say we go back to bed for a bit, huh?"

With a chuckle Lorna took Pyro's hand to lead him back in the direction of the bed.

--

Wanda was seated in a chair in her sparsely lavished apartment when a knock came on the door. The dark haired beauty waited a moment before heading over to the wooden object and pulling it open. On the other side stood a man with blonde-white hair and a highly amused expression on his face. "Miss me?" he asked.

"It took you long enough, Pietro. Where the hell have you been?" snapped Wanda as she led her twin into the room.

Pietro shut the door behind him and made himself at home on the sofa. "Nothing much, just ran into a little problem in Oklahoma. Marko decided he wanted to grab a bite to eat."

"Is he downstairs now?"

"Catching up with Jamie as we speak, speaking of which, where's Pyro? I thought we sent the kid after him today."

"He's around. She actually managed to pull it off, which surprised the hell out of me. It's been running all over the news today. You would have thought it was our father breaking Pyro out today the way the reporters spun the tale. The damn brat moved up a few notches with some of the guys, and it's not because she's got a pretty little face. She's starting to prove her worth. She's going to be trouble, Pietro, I just know it."

"Tell me again why we haven't just kicked her out yet?"

"Two reasons, father, and the X-Men. Our father has a soft spot for Lorna whether he wants to admit it or not; and if she isn't with us she'd be with the X-Men. The only reason she's with us is because Mystique got to her before Xavier could rescue her after she ran away from home. We're stuck with her whether we like it or not, or at least until she screws up and gets herself killed," replied Wanda bitterly. It wasn't just that Lorna might actually prove herself an equal one day; it was the fact that Wanda had to share daughterhood with her. Neither of the girls had grown up with Magneto, and now here they both were vying for his attention like any daughter would with her father. To make matters worse Wanda was actually jealous of Lorna for showing up and worming her way into Magneto's heart—she had already had one perfectly good father, but like the spoiled brat she was Lorna just hadn't been satisfied with that.

Pietro sighed. "Fine, we'll get someone to keep an eye on her or something. Give her some meaningless stuff to do, that should make her bored and then she'll take off."

"And with her would go Caliban. We need him."

"Goddammit, why does this have to be so fucking difficult? I don't know what game Caliban is playing, but I don't like it one bit."

"Neither do I, but since we don't have a choice we have to continue letting Lorna pretend she's a big girl. We do have another problem however, and that is the X-Men. They were at the courthouse when Pyro was set free. They're going to be looking for us. Especially when they figure out we're all working for the same cause here. I knew they'd learn about us with the breakouts, but I forgot about that connection they have in the White House. McCoy. He's going to be a real problem with all the access he has to the old files."

"Old files?" Pietro frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He could think of only one set of files that Wanda could be talking about, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to say it aloud. He had half hoped they had been lost to time itself, because if not then the trouble with the government had only just begun. "I'm guessing the government never destroyed Stryker's files, huh?"

"And get rid of the mutant goldmine? It'll be ten times easier for them to round up potential Brotherhood members if they have names and powers listed in one spot. We'll need to work fast to get our ranks back to the numbers they were before."

"Alright, so we'll start first thing tomorrow. We'll need to divide into groups and start searching out the old haunts again." Pietro sighed. "No word on father yet I take it?"

"None."

"This would be easier if we had him around."

Wanda pursed her lips together. "It would, but eventually we have to learn how to carry the Brotherhood on our own. This is a good a chance as any."

--

He walked with the gait of an elderly man. It was slow and hesitant, the man himself acting as though he might fall should he not be careful with his feet. One hand trailed along the railing of the sidewalk. He had never seen the purpose of it before, but that had been before he had aged overnight. Where once his face had been set with masked intelligence, now it was a mass of wrinkles and craggy lines, giving him a tired and fragile appearance. It was no longer the face of the great and almighty Magneto, one time leader of the famed Brotherhood of Mutants.

His blue eyes stared at the ground below him rather than the people passing him by. There was no use in meeting their pitiful gazes. To the world he was only another old man making his way through life. He was ashamed of what he had become, what he now had to pretend to be. Human. The very word disgusted him, but it was what he now was. He was one of them. One of the very people he despised, and all because of the X-Men. Of all the mistakes he had ever made, the greatest one was allowing Charles' group to stay in activity, an enemy of the worst sort, and traitors to their own kind.

It was time to put a stop to the X-Men once and for all, and he knew just the person to do it.

A smile curved onto his lips as he came across the payphone he had been looking for. Feebly the older man leaned his body against the booth, a single hand picking up the receiver and placing against his ear as the other hand inserted his coins and dialed a number. It rang twice.

"My dear, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice."

--

"Do you think McCoy is going to stall the release of the project?" questioned Bolivar as he and his blonde companion entered a small office. Bolivar loosened his tie as he took a seat on the leather couch. "You know how he feels about anything remotely related to mutant round-ups."

"I think you worry too much," replied the other man with a shrug as he uncorked a glass bottle of brandy and poured himself a glass.

"And you don't worry enough. Jesus Christ, Gray, we need the President's approval to get the Sentinel Project public. By being your goddamn brash self you just might have jeopardized our chances of getting that to happen."

"Bolivar, has it ever occurred to you to have a little faith in me? I'm not worried about McCoy. He's seen the same news footage we have today; he knows the return of the Brotherhood is one step away from another civil war. McCoy won't let that happen, not if my name is Graydon Creed. Besides, we have one thing on our side that McCoy doesn't."

"Oh yeah, and what's that? Faith?" demanded Bolivar bitterly.

Graydon grinned. "Randall Lightfoot, also known as the mutant Forge. McCoy isn't going to stand in our way, not while knowing a mutant helped create the Sentinels. Give him a little time and he'll agree that this is the only way to stop our mutual enemy."

"McCoy doesn't trust us, Gray. You and I both know it. I've made it no secret how I feel about mutants, and one look into your background will only bring your grassroots group to light."

"Then perhaps it is time that the Friends of Humanity became public knowledge."

"You're walking a fine line, Gray."

"And you're starting to doubt that it can be done, aren't you? Bolivar, when you worked with William Stryker you were said to be a daring man. Whatever happened to him?"

"Who, me or Stryker? Stryker was too damn confident in himself and his pet projects, all of which have gone missing by the way, including the newest one. His confidence got him killed, so you can't blame me for wanting to be a little cautious, now can you?" shot back Bolivar with a deep frown. He valued his livelihood, and the only way he could actually enjoy it was to stay alive—and he couldn't very well stay alive if he did anything half as rash as his former colleague William Stryker had done.

Chuckling, Graydon took a sip of his brandy before speaking again. "Haven't you ever heard of throwing caution to the wind? We've got the world in the palm of our hands Bolivar. Those breakouts from yesterday are ensuring our future and that of the human population. Mutants are on a one way trip to extinction—and they don't even know it. You need to trust me, for soon enough humans will have total control of the planet again."

"You had better be right about this," muttered Bolivar, his eyes narrowing as he watched Graydon sip more brandy. "Because if you're wrong it isn't just me you're bringing down with you, it's our whole damn species you'll be making fools of."

"There isn't a thing in the world that can screw this up."

"Not even a missing weapon?"

"Why don't you let me worry about that one for now? I know a guy that's familiar with some of Stryker's work—I think I can convince him to come out of retirement to do me a little favor."

"He's willing to return to the service?"

"You know who I'm talking about then?"

"There's only one man that locate anyone, anywhere."

"Then you know a missing weapon will be no big deal."

"He left the service because he didn't feel he could continue to experiment alongside Bill anymore. He claimed Bill had lost his way, that everything Bill did was a degradation to the rights of all living creatures."

"Mutants aren't human."

"They aren't animals either."

"Then that is where you and I differ, Bolivar. You can't think of these mutants as anything more than a freak of nature, to do otherwise would be turning your back on your own kind."

Bolivar ignored the barb. "He won't do it."

"I think he will."

"His beliefs on the matter are strong."

"And his duty to his country is stronger."

"You're a fool, Gray. This will only end in trouble. I know it will."

"Nicholas Fury is a soldier; he'll do what he's told to do as long as I've got the right person telling him to do it."

--

The door swung open with unusual force, causing passerby's to wince and scurry down the hall. Lorna stalked out of her bedroom, muttering under her breath as her fingers fumbled with the buttons of the top of her long sleeved shirt. Pyro followed along behind her tucking a cigarette behind his ear, dutifully ignoring the curious glances sent his way. He could only imagine the thoughts running through the minds of the Brotherhood once word of where he had spent the night was spread around. Naturally Lorna would be pissed about it and have another one of her temper tantrums, which would turn an otherwise nonchalant situation into a full blown tabloid tale. It was almost enough to make him want to confess the whole thing to Pietro and Wanda and get the jokes and glares out of the way now rather than later.

"Do you have to walk so fast?" he demanded as they reached the stairwell and began the descent to the first floor.

Lorna snorted. "We're late for the damn morning roundup. Wanda's been gathering the team together every morning at the same time to get the lowdown on our situation."

"Uh-huh, and what time is this supposed to take place?"

"Twenty minutes ago."

"Just tell them you were exercising," suggested Pyro, the ever familiar cocky grin lighting up his face.

Stopping short in her tracks Lorna turned around on the step, jabbing an accusatory finger into Pyro's chest, catching him off guard. He hadn't expected that phrase to rile her up so quickly, he had figured it would have taken a couple more before she decided to play down and dirty today. Apparently he was behind on just how short Lorna's temper had become because now she was glaring at him as though she wanted to kill him. "Why the hell do you always have to screw around, huh? We're supposed to be a little more professional considering we're supposed to be running a goddamn group of mutants on the lam, and what do you want to do? Goof off like we're still kids."

Pyro felt his eyebrow rise as the words hung there in the air. He was beginning to regret his rash decision the night before to try and work out some sort of co-partnership with the green haired teen. Pyro knew he was immature and brash, but it seemed Lorna had him defeated in those departments today. There was no way in hell they were going to make it out alive working together, not if she kept acting like the spoiled brat she was because that was only leading to a one way track for murder.

"Hey, you want to act like an adult that's fine," growled Pyro finally, reaching out to grip Lorna's elbow before she could walk away, "but remember who you're playing with, Princess. I'm being nice by letting you tag along with me, but don't think I won't burn you alive if you keep this high and mighty act of yours up, got it?"

"Oh, is that a threat, John? Because you know how I feel about those," returned Lorna coolly, her eyes focusing in on the sandy haired teen in front of her.

"Yeah, well you know how I feel about you, so why not just call it even?"

Lorna opened her mouth, more than likely intending to say something just as crude back when the sound of what seemed to be someone clearing their throat came from the top of the stairwell. Lorna and Pyro both glanced up to where a tall man with cropped black hair and dark brown eyes stood gazing down at them, obviously waiting to say something.

Pyro allowed himself to let go of Lorna, a tinge of guilt hitting him as the girl moved to rub where he had gripped her. "Need something, Avalanche?" he asked quietly.

"Depends, you two done with your lover's quarrel for the moment?"

"Fuck you, Nic," snapped Lorna. Pyro reached out to cup her elbow, yanking Lorna close to his side in order to shut her up. Taking the hint Lorna didn't struggle, but the scowl never left her face as Dominic Petros, the mutant known as Avalanche spoke again.

"I figured I'd catch you now before you got downstairs for the rest of the meeting. That girl's asking for you, Lorna."

"What girl?" questioned Pyro.

"The one I was busy tracking down while you were busy buying your trip to jail," replied Lorna with a grin. "It's about damn time too, she's been brooding for months now and half the team's afraid of her. She tried stabbing Pietro a couple of times before he got the hint she just wasn't interested."

"Where'd you find her?"

"Canada. Caliban had a few sources direct us to Alkali Lake."

"But it's flooded."

Lorna rolled her eyes, a mischievous gleam returning as she reached up to pat Pyro condescendingly on the cheek. "You're cute when you're dumb, you know that?"

"So are you going to tell me who the hell this girl is, or should I have Avalanche do the honors?"

"You're not worried about me, are you, Johnny?"

"What? Me? I just want to know what was so important about this chick that Magneto sent you on a witch hunt for her," stated Pyro with another frown, his eyebrows knitting together. It had been an odd request on Magneto's behalf to ask Lorna of all people to go and search for this missing weapon of a mutant that would be a great asset to the team, but the last few months in jail had given Pyro some time to think things over, and the one conclusion he had come up with was that Magneto had sent Lorna away in case something happened—like the damn girl getting herself injured or killed in battle. It wasn't as though Lorna was refined in the art of war making.

Lorna shrugged, a fingertip twirling a strand of green hair. "Don't know, but I think I might finally find out. You go ahead and play with Pietro and Wanda while I go and talk with the little miss I-hate-the-world-everyday." Lorna turned to move back up the steps and down the hall without so much as a second glance at Pyro who was now gaping at her back.

Opening and closing his mouth a couple of times Pyro finally settled with a dark glare directed at Dominic who was still standing there, his own eyes following every move Lorna's lithe body made. Rolling his eyes Pyro jogged up the steps and hit Dominic in the back of the head. "Follow her, you moron, and get her downstairs in one piece."

"No problem, man," murmured Dominic, a smile spreading onto his face.

"Touch her and I'll kill you." Pyro gave the other mutant a warning look before turning to descend the steps once more, muttering all the while about green hair and hormones ruining his life.

-End of Chapter Three-

a/n – my summer course has ended so I'm hoping I can pick this up again before my fall semester starts. thanks to all those who have waited so patiently for this chapter.