-C.I.A. Holding Facility Delta, New Mexico, 8 months ago-
"She's definitely a looker…"
"As a brunette? Nah… I prefer her as a red head, all the way."
"You always did like a little crazy in your coffee…"
"You think just because her hair color has changed that she's somehow saner?"
"She's been cooperative with us so far… who knows-"
"Stow it gentlemen! Director Fury, the prisoner is ready to talk."
Nick Fury walks up to the three men briskly. He didn't figure this day would come. Whatever else the woman in the room may have been, disloyal hadn't been one of them. "At ease, men. I'm going in; alone." The three men all look uncomfortable with that declaration, but only one chooses to speak up.
"With all due respect Director, that's a serious breach of protocol. I understand you're with-"
"If you know who I am and who I'm with then you know to step aside. Now." Fury stands in front of the door waiting for the man to stand aside. After an uncomfortable exchange of glances he makes room for Fury to enter the room.
Fury greets the woman seated at the cold steel table with a small smirk.
"I could hear at least three sets of testicles retract out there; that's something that usually only happens when I walk in the room. I'm jealous."
Fury smirks and sits across from the mutant terrorist Raven Darkholme, also known as Mystique. "Retraction is not the affect I think you have on men, Mystique."
"Careful, Fury, people are going to talk…" Raven smiles naughtily.
"That's what I'm here for right? Conversation?" Fury sets a small recording device on the table and noting Mystique's look of apprehension he explains. "You know how the government is; by the book. So what can you tell me that I don't already know about Magneto?"
Over the course of several hours, Mystique gives Fury more than he could have ever asked for. Location of secret bases, identities of radical mutant sympathizers, plots to be enacted upon Magneto being incapacitated and the fall back location Magneto would run to in case the worst should happen. All she wanted in return was something that was easy enough for Fury to grant.
The Director of the C.I.A. has seen plenty of deals get made in within these walls, most of which always for the protection of the United states interests. Never had he seen a deal get done this quickly. "Are you sure about this Director Fury? Shouldn't we wait until we can confirm her information before-?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. already has confirmed her intel, Director Cummings. Thought you knew better than that?"
"Hill," C.I.A. director Richard Cummings has only had one agent more capable than Nick Fury and she just walked into the room. He crosses past Fury to hug the woman he considers a daughter. "Any way I can convince you to dump Fury and come back to work with me?"
"A fresh cup of your private Columbian stash and some of those enchiladas your wife makes and I'm yours." Maria returns with a smile. "Seriously though, Director, we already have Lensherr in custody and we have a team ready to round up Creed, Pietro and Wanda. It's a good day for the good guys."
"Indeed it is!" The Director agrees. "But transport to a minimum security facility? I don't see that as a particularly smart move…"
"She's been defanged, Director." Fury argues, holding out the folder containing Mystique's transfer order. "She's no more of a threat than any other prisoner."
"Washington is still studying the long term effects of the Cure, there's no telling if it's a permanent deterrent or not." Every mutant that has been changed by the cure is under observation and so far it seemed to be permanent. But there were murmurs in Washington that the formula of Dr. Rao has yet to be written up as stable.
Fury shares a smile with Maria Hill who nods and speaks. "Which is why we're sending her to the Supervillain Supermax instead..."
"But the order-"
"The woman is responsible for over five dozen crimes… that we know of..." Fury interjects with a look. "With a rap sheet like that, there's no way we're letting her out of our sight."
-Xavier's School, kitchen, several months ago-
"Find what yer lookin' for kid?"
Kyle Denton wheels quickly to see a gruff, shirtless man in the doorway. He thought he'd been so quiet and careful. He waited a full two hours after he saw the last lights turn off before scurrying across the campus grounds to the kitchen. He could go a long time without eating, but that meant finding other sources of nourishment. Not a particularly favorite alternative of his.
"Just… just stay back… I don't want to hurt you!" Kyle warns, holding up his hand. He can feel the pull of the man in front of him. In a few seconds, he feels his strength begin to return. He's been on the run for so long, through so many different cities he lost count. He figured that a place this big wouldn't miss a few items of food, but now he wonders if he should have chosen a different place to rob. He knows now that it was likely the pull of all the mutant powers that made it such an irresistible target.
"Whatever yer doing kid, stop it." Logan warns, unsheathing his claws. When the boy reached out his hand he felt nauseous at first, then steadily weaker. Now that he knows the child is obviously a mutant, he calls out mentally to Jean. She would have a more humane way of stopping this intruder if it came to that.
"Sorry. Sorry…" Kyle drops his hand and the hunger returns just as quickly. He hadn't meant to drain the man in front of him, it was just instinct. He had gone a full year without absorbing another person; mutant or otherwise, but some habits die hard. "When I get weak like this I can't… I can't…"
"Sit down," Logan points to the table in the kitchen. Once Kyle sits down Logan tosses him a cold chicken leg from the fridge. "What's yer name, kid?"
"Kyle." Kyle finishes the leg three bites. Logan can tell that he's still hungry. He'd been on the streets before and although he's always been able to fend for himself, he knows something of what the boy must be feeling.
"Well Kyle, if you want to keep me from sending you back into the cold, hungry and bleeding, I'm gonna need a last name and a story. You can start with how you found this place." The School was impossible to simply stumble upon. There were psychic countermeasures in effect to keep the school invisible to anyone not invited. Not to mention the physical security protocols in effect all over the grounds. He'd seen highly trained agents trip them before they even caught sight of the front door.
"Really Logan? Threatening kids? I guess rock bottom has a basement after all..."
"Hey, Jeannie." Logan keeps his eyes on Kyle, watching him carefully. "You got yer methods o' persuasion, I got mine. Don't you think it's interestin' that he managed to sneak past most of the perimeter security without a problem? I'm willin' ta bet that there's more to this kid than that ridiculous hair." On top of the already existing set of security, Logan set up his own traps, keyed to warn him if anyone got closer than they should have.
Kyle doesn't hide his anger as he looks up at Logan. His hair came from his mother; it was one of the few things about himself he took pride in. The gifts he received from his father were significantly less endearing. But fear and anger are the triggers that made him lose control in the first place, so he takes a deep breath before speaking. "Can I go?" He realizes now coming here had been a mistake. If he wanted to keep from succumbing to the darkness in him, this was the absolute last place he should be.
"Kyle, with your abilities you could walk out of here anytime you wanted to." Jean offers calmly, pulling a stool from the island up to the table to join them.
"Not if the guy with the red shades has anything to say about it…" Kyle offers not looking up. Kyle sensed Cyclops presence before he actually knew he was in the room. Logan, Cyclops and even Jean had all managed to approach him without him hearing a sound. It was scary to think what they could have done had they actually wished him harm. "He's literally brimming with power…" Kyle whispers, trying not to sound like a starving man in front of a five star, four course meal. But that was exactly how he felt. These three alone could have likely fueled him for the better part of a year.
"That's not nice Kyle…" Jean cautions, looking at him sternly, she couldn't help picking up on his thoughts. "I thought you hated taking lives just to fuel your hunger? Isn't that why you turned your father in?"
"How?" It had not been an easy decision to turn in his father, but he was glad he did. Even if it meant that his entire life had essentially ended.
"No matter what you've done, if you want to change, you can." Jean offers touching his hand lightly, causing him to look up at her curiously. "If you want to…"
Kyle allows himself to hope for a moment, but angrily pulls his hand away. "It doesn't matter what I want! It never has!"
When he raises his voice, Cyclops stiffens and takes a more offensive position in the doorway. Logan subtly slides away from the table to ready himself and Kyle laughs. "See? They know what I really am and they're willing do something about it. Aren't you, Logan?"
Logan doesn't like the challenging tone in Kyle's voice one bit, but he knows it's coming from fear and frustration. "Kid, I been where yer at and if it weren't for the people in this room, I'd still be there." Both Jean and Scott are startled by his admission, but don't show it. "Ya let us help ya-"
"And if you can't?" Kyle whispers, unwilling to meet Logan's gaze.
"It will be because you didn't want us to…" Scott offers, entering the room fully.
"Why?" Kyle questions nearly in tears. "Why help me at all?" Since he lost his father, he'd been on his own. He'd gotten used to believing that was the way things would always be.
Logan smirks and winks. "Why not?"
-Transit vehicle, North Dakota, 8 months ago-
"So what are you in for?"
"Terrorist acts, murder, treason, espionage; both international and domestic… uh…kidnapping a federal official… you?"
The woman across from Raven sits back and tries to forget she asked the question. She didn't know if the woman strapped across from her was telling the truth or not, but something in the casual way she rattled off her crimes, made her doubt she was lying. She had only been recently acquainted with this side of law and order; her abilities manifested themselves a few weeks ago.
At the time she thought it was a blessing.
Before then she had been struggling just to pay rent in the overpriced room she rented from the sleazy jerk who she was sure had been spying on her. Before then, Angelica was simply a normal starving college student. Now she can't help but feel she was better off.
"What about you, cutie?" Raven asks the young woman with a smirk. She could tell the girl was trying to be tough, but that she had no idea what was coming. Ruefully, Raven had to admit she didn't either. She would have given up Magneto's operation without the transfer, but Fury actually was true to his word. A fact further evidenced by the girl across from her. If Raven was traveling with someone this green, she had no doubt she was indeed on her way to a minimum security facility.
"I-I killed some people…" Angelica stammers nervously. Before her powers manifested she hadn't even gotten a speeding ticket. Once she learned she could manipulate microwave energy, she set a plan in motion. Being studious as she is, she figured out a way to use her abilities to make money.
It started as a one-time thing; superheat an ATM enough to spring it open and pocket the cash. On her first attempt however she learned that her way of opening the machines left over half of the bills unusable. So she robbed another. And another.
She targeted low income areas and neighborhood bank ATM's at first figuring the robberies would go fairly unnoticed. Perhaps they would have if she hadn't hit so many.
The girls' admission startled Raven. If the girl had been lying to save face, she wouldn't have admitted it with such shame. Unless she was a plant. Raven eyes her suspiciously. "How?"
"I can- uh… heat things up- you know like a microwave? I robbed one of those bank ATM's by melting it…" Angelica winces remembering everything that happened that day. It started off smooth; she overheated the machine with ease and door sprang open. She had gotten better at gauging how much pressure to build up and was beginning to get away with a larger percentage of the money. Of course, by this time, the police had figured out her M.O. and set up a trap. Just as she was beginning to bag up the money, several police officers jumped out at her.
The prospect of nearly being shot spooked her badly. So badly, that when she reached out to heat up the closest officer's gun to force him to drop it, she overcompensated.
The gun exploded, firing rounds in every direction. The cop died instantly, the other officers were not as lucky. The superheated shells caused them to scream with an agony that Angelica would always remember. All told, there for six deaths on her hands. Overcome with guilt, she turned herself in.
When she finishes her story, Raven, once known as Mystique yells out in anger. Not over the girls' heart-wrenching story, but over the fact that she now realizes Fury had not kept his word. She was indeed headed for a Supervillain maximum security facility. She would never see the light of day again.
For an hour or more, the two sit in silence until Angelica timidly breaks the silence with a question: "What's- what's going on with your eyes?"
-Xavier's School, kitchen, Several months ago-
"What do you think?" Jean asks Logan and Scott out of earshot of Kyle. After Kyle tells the three of them the entire story, Scott reheats some leftover pizza while they discuss his situation.
"I remember reading about his old man while I was bouncing around Alberta..." Logan admits, watching Kyle unashamedly devour a slice of supreme pizza. "He's not lying." The story had been mostly covered up by the government; the sort of panic that would have ensued could have caused more damage than a dozen Magneto's. "His dad went down a few months before I got here, kid couldn't have been more than pup when he struck out on his own."
Scott and Jean both nod, trusting his senses. "Things are pretty shaky here right now, we're just getting back on track and the kids are just beginning to settle into their routine again." Scott offers. "I'm not sure admitting him now to the school is the best thing for him or us."
"So we give him a meal and send him on his way? Sorry little fella, all full?" Jean can't believe what she's hearing. She just assumed that they would admit Kyle to the school straight away. The school was here for this exact reason.
"I'm not saying that!" Scott wondered how Xavier managed it; helping as many people as he could while still being practical about those he helped.
"I've got a safe house not far from here, a place I go to when I need a… little space." Logan interjects. "Kid can hole up there until we're a little more settled. Keeps him off the streets and gives him something to look forward to."
Scott breathes a sigh of relief, happy that Logan has a solution. He may not have wanted him here when Xavier first opened his doors to the mutant, but Logan was quickly proving himself to be invaluable. And the fact he was no longer actively after Jean didn't hurt his opinion of the man either. "Good. In a few months we can bring him back with the others."
"Others?" This time Logan is the one who looks confused.
"Hank's been tracking and keeping tabs on a couple of troubled mutant teens and as soon as I- we- give him the green light he wants to invite them here." Professor Xavier used Cerebro to find mutants in need in the past, but since he'd been gone, Hank had taken over that responsibility. With the help of his lavender haired lover, Betsy Braddock, he'd been able to locate several mutants of interest.
"When were you planning on telling me this?"
"I'm telling you now, Logan." Scott returns with a smirk. It wasn't often that he was able to sneak something by Logan, so he took Wolverine's reaction with a bit of pride.
"You forget we're supposed to be running this thing together?"
"No. But we did agree to section off the responsibilities. And New Student Admissions falls under my area of responsibility." Scott laughs, seeing Logan's quiet look of defeat. "Your idea, remember?"
"Awright Summers, we're gonna have to revisit this another time..." Logan smirks looking at Jean. "When yer ol lady ain't around to protect ya..."
-North Dakota, side of the road, eight months ago-
"Did you… did you have to…?"
"Better him then us sweetie…" Once Mystique's powers returned she easily slipped free of her restraints and forced the transport van off the road. "Well… it's been fun."
"Wait!" Angelica calls out to the shape-shifter as Mystique moves to leave.
"Yes?"
"Can I-? I mean- I've never-"
"Sorry girl, but you'd only slow me down." Mystique counters dragging the driver's unconscious body from the van. If the girl got squeamish at the sight of two injured but alive guards, she knew she had no stomach for what was going to come next. After she was sure she had the two men far enough off the road that they wouldn't be easily discovered, she returns to the van. Although damaged, it was still in running shape.
"I don't have… I have nowhere else to go…" She couldn't return to her home town and she had no idea of how to live on the run.
"Not my problem, sweetie." Mystique returns coldly, sliding into the driver's seat coaxing the engine back to life. She smiles with satisfaction as it roars and she eases it back onto the road.
"I'll- I'll stop you!" Angelica threatens, holding out her hands. With her abilities she could have easily melted the tires or caused the engine to explode. Mystique watches her and considers her options. She loathed harming her fellow mutants, even if they were annoying brats.
"Get in then." Mystique snarls waiting for the girl to take a spot next to her. "But I'm unloading you the first chance I get." Mystique confesses shifting into the form of the man whose spot she's now occupying. "We need to get another vehicle quickly. S.H.I.E.L.D. will likely be tracking this one and they'll know something is up when we deviate from the travel path."
Angelica nods, relieved to not be left on her own. "Where are we headed?"
Mystique smiles. "Vegas, baby, Vegas!"
-Las Vegas, Penthouse Suite of Four Queens Hotel and Casino-
"What do you think?"
Angelica had gotten used to seeing Mystique in various forms, but seeing her as an overweight Arab man was disturbing. Avoiding eye contact she looks around the room. "Seems a little… conspicuous for a "safe house" don't you think?"
"Hide in plain sight," Mystique quips, dropping her disguise for her natural form. "You'd be surprised how often it works." Raven takes a seat on the couch and puts her feet up on the coffee table. This was one of the three safe houses that Mystique left out of her report to Fury. She knew Magneto would never come here, he hated the bright lights of this city, plus this was a place that he could only access with her shape shifting ability. "Order us some room service, will you? I'm starving!"
"What should I order?" Angelica asks slightly excited. She'd never been any place like this before.
"Do you have a preference Victor? That is if you're done with the complimentary fruit basket."
Angelica looks up in confusion until she sees a well-dressed man standing on the other side of the room. He seems completely at ease in the room, slowly savoring a rather large grape. She quickly glances at Mystique and notes that she doesn't seem to be surprised.
"I'm partial to their blackened salmon, you wouldn't think it, being a land locked desert, but their seafood is of extremely high quality. Not a single farm raised fish on the menu." Victor Von Doom is a man who is used to his presence eliciting fear, awe or at the very least apprehension, but Mystique seems to be more annoyed than anything else.
"You heard the man, Angelica; Victor is right, the seafood is exquisite here." Mystique orders without taking her eyes off of Victor. "You have until the bellboy knocks to convince me not to kill you." Mystique states plainly.
"Really?" Doom raises an eyebrow in fascination. "Then I'd better hurry, the service here is incredibly efficient." Victor drops the plum he had been holding back into the basket and walks over to the shape-shifting mutant.
And he begins his story.
Apparently there are several native Latverian's serving in the upper levels of S.H.I.E.L.D. a fact that causes Raven to chuckle in amusement. It was his inside contacts that made him aware of her transfer. He, like S.H.I.E.L.D. watched her movements from New Mexico to North Dakota. Unknown to her was the fact that Fury had implanted a tracking beacon in her ankle and would have found her if Doom had not hijacked the signal for himself. He kept her off of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar while tracking her down for himself. Once he was able to determine her destination, a review of the check-in list led him to this suite.
"Clever." Mystique nods, smiling. "And while I appreciate your… assistance in my freedom, you still haven't given me sufficient reason to keep from killing you."
Undaunted, Doom continues.
He details the events at Xavier's school and the weapons that Trask created. How he managed to liberate Trask and plans to turn Trask's humanitarian protection measures for their own use.
"You may have… gifts… Doom, but you're no brother to mutants. You're an aristocrat who had a bad day."
"Perhaps, but do you think they will make a distinction?" Doom asks taking a seat next to Mystique. He found her fascinating. She was like a tiger; beautiful and dangerous. He once had similar thoughts about Susan until she succumbed to her weaknesses and settled for Richards.
"They never do…" Mystique quips spitefully. "But you've never struck me as the type to take on a partner. Not without trying to kill them at least." She knew Doom was a man who did whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted.
Taking note of Mystique's not so subtle jab, Doom responds. "Our partnership need not be an indefinite one; nor does it have to end in bloodshed. You can have the America's… I'll take everything else."
In spite of herself, Mystique laughs. The audacity of this human both infuriated and enticed her. "So I imagine you have a plan in place for your quest of world domination… What makes the chances of success better than any of your other failed schemes?"
Clenching his jaw, Doom stands. "My plans do not fail! They may suffer the occasional setback, but that is due to the incompetence I am forced to partner with. And if we were to compare notes, the plans of your brotherhood have not met with resounding success either."
"Touché." Mystique stands, morphing into Susan Richards. "But at least I'm not led around by my-" Mystique grabs the bulge beneath his belt buckle and delights at the obvious excitement in his eyes. "-ambition. I don't want to rule the world, Victor. I never have."
"Then," Victor eases her hand away from him. "What do you want?"
"To make it better… by eliminating every single human being." Her natural form made her an outcast from birth, but her ability to blend in made her hate herself. She didn't want to pretend to be someone else, but humans left her no choice.
"But if all the humans are gone, my dear, who will serve at your feet?"
Mystique smiles and contemplates his statement. "Perhaps I'll leave you alive to serve. I think you'll find me a very caring mistress."
"Tempting as that may be, you will not be sitting astride any thrones, now that Magneto is de-powered."
Growling slightly, Mystique counters quickly. "I shook off the effects of the so-called cure, so will Eric…"
"Your genetic makeup is much different than the normal mutant. Your cellular structure is in a constant state of flux, there was no baseline for the cure to affix itself to." Victor had looked deeply into Khavito Rao's cure as a potential deterrent for Reed Richards and he saw in Richards cellular structure some of the same consistencies in Mystique. It would work long enough for him to kill the man, but the effects would be very temporary. "If the two of us match our respective strengths; perhaps there may be a way for me to restore your former… partner…"
"You hate Erik, Victor."
"Yes. But not as much as I hate seeing the world being governed by ineffective, scared nitwits." Magneto's plan to turn all humans into mutants is what first sparked Doom's interest in the mutant. They both saw the world as something to be ruled, but had very different views as to how to accomplish that goal. Doom approached Erik years ago with an alternative that Magneto was less than receptive to. Doom barely escaped the encounter with his life.
The two stare at each other for a moment before the spell is broken by a knock at the door. Angelica yelps in surprise, reminding the two of them that she is still in the room.
"Room service." A voice calls from behind the door.
Mystique looks at the door then back at Victor with her own yellow eyes. "You were right; very efficient."
"So," Doom lifts her now blue chin up with a finger. "Have I earned the right to live?"
"For now at least." Mystique answers, swaying away from him sexily, before shifting back into a portly Middle Eastern. "But I've yet to be convinced of the merits of any partnership between us…"
-Inside Scott Summers Corvette, now-
"Cyclops is going to be really pissed about me bleeding all over his seats…"
"How can you joke about this?" Storm has to admit, she shouldn't be surprised. He's always shown his father's darker sense of humor. This situation is as dark as it gets.
"Trying to keep from screaming I guess…" Aaron coughs and wipes away the blood. He's been hurt plenty of times before, more than anyone his age should ever have to be. Only one has he been hurt this badly though.
"We have to get you back to the institute!" Storm yells swerving to narrowly avoid a minivan full of kids. Likely on their way to soccer practice, something normal people do with their Saturday afternoons. Not dodge potential assassination attempts.
"No!" Aaron yells grabbing the steering wheel, coughing a glut of blood onto the dashboard. "Not until we lose these guys first! Where's your cell phone?"
Storm reaches into her coat pocket and realizes it's missing. "No… I'll contact Jean!" Concentrating with all her might she tries to send a message to her sister, but is unsuccessful. "I can't… I can't reach her!"
Aaron takes note of her panic and closes his eyes. "I'll try Rachel…see if she can signal home…" Aaron tries to reach out to his girlfriend through the rapport they share but finds nothing but dead space. After a moment of confusion he laughs until he chokes.
"Goddess what is it now?"
"Psychic inhibitors, gotta be… cough… buried in the Carbonadium… twisted and ingenious…" Whoever attacked them was prepared for them specifically. They used Carbonadium to take out him and Logan, psychic dampeners to limit Rachel and an attack in a confined area to limit Storm's effectiveness. The attack had S.H.I.E.L.D. written all over it, Aaron hopes he's wrong.
"I'm glad you admire the work of the psychopaths who stormed a Home Depot…" Storm groans evading another slow moving vehicle. As far as she could see there were two attackers on motorcycles along with another in a sedan. If she had any hope of helping Aaron survive this she had to lose them first.
-Earlier, Home Depot-
"It's so cute you wanted to go shopping with your daddy!"
"That is not the-"
"And it's even cuter when you pretend like that's not the reason!" Rachel loves teasing Aaron about his relationship with his estranged father. Despite the tough act Aaron puts on it's always been evident to Rachel just how deeply Aaron cares.
"Didn't you and Ororo want to stop by the fashion boutique next door?" Aaron tries to change the subject, but he knows it's pointless. Dating a telepath who you share a psychic rapport with comes with the understanding that things like privacy and hiding you emotions go out the door. "Maybe you guys should head over there now? What do you think Ororo?"
"I think Rachel may be on to something…" Ororo quips, walking in step with Logan, her arm linked around his. She's gotten more than her fair share of looks at her choice of companion but she doesn't care in the slightest. There weren't enough times they got a chance to enjoy being a couple in public. She was going to take full advantage of the opportunity. "What's your opinion, beloved?"
"I think the kitchen fixtures are over this way," Logan smirks at the grateful grin that Aaron throws him at the subject change. If Logan were being honest he was probably enjoying this time with Aaron even more than Aaron himself. It was a rare thing to be doing something as normal as shopping and even rarer for him to share something like this with the people he cared about most. Their relationship may have started off rocky, but things have progressively gotten better. "Aaron has a point though, Why don't you ladies-"
Logan stops mid-sentence and turns to Aaron and Aaron is wearing the same expression. Both men are looking around them anxiously. "Somethings-"
"-not right…" Logan finishes looking around warily.
Rachel grips Aaron's arm tightly. "What is it?"
"I don't know… it's like…" Aaron bares his teeth and keeps scanning the area around him. All he sees are normal everyday people. That doesn't stop him from feeling on edge.
"Like something is missing…" Logan finishes Aaron's thought to which the younger man nods. All four of them drop into defensive positions, readying themselves for anything that may come.
"There's a… hole… in… in…" Aaron fights for a way to describe it and when he looks to Logan the older man shrugs with his own look of bewilderment. Both men have enhanced senses, most of the time, people think that just means they're great trackers or they can tell when someone is being dishonest. Few people know just how much sensory input they take in on a day to day basis. So much so, that the absence of input is glaringly obvious.
"Rachel, can ya scan fer any-"
Logan doesn't get to finish his sentence as he's throttled by gun fire. The force sends him backwards into a pile of concrete bags. Aaron, who is normally exceptionally fast, is not quick enough to avoid being rocked by his own personal six gun salute. By the time he realizes what's happened he's on the floor, next to his father.
"Ambush… get to cover…" Aaron sputters, struggling to get to his feet and failing. He's been shot before, so he knows what to expect, but this time is different.
Unable to spot the attackers Ororo agrees that flight is a better option than fight. The patrons of Home Depot scatter for the exits as well. "Rachel, help me get them up!"
All the training in the world could not prepare Rachel for the sight of the man she loves on the floor in a very bloody heap. "Why is he not-"
"Rachel!" Ororo screams, attempting to shock the girl back to her senses. Meanwhile the attackers finally reveal themselves. Clad in black riot gear eight men rush the aisle aiming weapons at them. Running on pure instinct, Storm summons a gust of wind that blows the men backward. Creating elemental effects indoors is a great strain, especially given the stale, unnatural air in this building. While they collect themselves, Ororo slaps Rachel hard. "Child, help me get them to their feet!"
Finally broken of her shock, Rachel uses her telekinesis to lift both men up and they stand wobbly in front of them. Before she can ask about the mens' failing healing factors Logan answers with one word: "Carbonadium."
Both women know what that substance does to their mutant healing abilities and Ororo knows what needs to be done. "Rachel, take Logan, your telekinesis makes you better suited to help him. I'll help Aaron! We must get out of here!"
-Inside a Stolen SUV-
"All the cars you coulda stolen…"
"Maybe I should have left you there for those guys to shoot you some more." Rachel instantly regrets her joke when she looks over at the blood soaked frame of Logan. She and Storm were barely able to keep the attackers at bay while escaping. At Aaron's insistence, they split up; figuring two targets would be harder to catch. As bad as she wanted to stay with Aaron, Storm would never have been able to hold up the weight of Logan's Adamantium laced frame if they needed to get away on foot.
"Hilari-arrrrrrrgh!" Using a claw on his left hand he attempts to dig one of the Carbonadium slugs out of his torso. The metal doesn't completely stop his healing ability; it slows it down to a crawl. It would be better almost if it had stopped, because his flesh keeps knitting itself over top of the bullets. Making digging them out an exercise in frustration.
"Can you quit picking at your bullet holes long enough for me to get you home?" Rachel is trying her best to keep her composure, but the situation is making it difficult. She's trying to outrun both a helicopter and a sedan in a vehicle more suited for transporting groceries than fugitives. Adding to that, she's completely cut off from her telepathic ability. "What are they using to distort my telepathy?" She asks out loud, leaning on her horn to motivate a law abiding motorist.
"Psi-dampeners… probably active from the start…" Logan offers, knotting his tattered shirt around his waist. The attackers were wearing "ghost suits". Logan knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been working on technology to make people completely undetectable; no scent, no psi-signature, no body temperature and no sound. It was what he and Aaron sensed just before they attacked. So it makes sense that they would be able to block telepathic transmissions as well. "Whoever these guys are… they were prepared to take out the X-men…"
"Great…" Rachel mutters, cutting the wheel hard to the left taking a small street in an attempt to lose the tail. "Last time I offer to go anywhere with the two of you…"
-Institute Kitchen, three hours ago-
"Damn it!"
"Henry! There are children present!"
"Sorry Ororo," Beast apologizes, looking guilty. He's been running himself ragged the last few days with the side project he's not allowed to talk about and in his fatigue, he breaks the sink. Water is shooting everywhere from the now destroyed faucet.
"I'll shut the water off," Betsy offers leaving the kitchen. Hank hasn't been himself lately, but despite her best efforts she hasn't been able to determine why. She hopes that this incident will force him to open up to her before she has to beat it out of him.
"Geez Hank, what the hell?" Logan quips as water spurts straight into the air.
"Logan…" Hank growls in an attempt to keep his quickly fading patience. "Would you please pick up a replacement sink and some pipe fittings from the local hardware store?"
Ordinarily Logan would make a snide remark about Hank getting it himself, but his senses paint the picture of a man at the end of his rope. Clearly, with everything Hank has had to deal with lately, the man deserved a break. "Sure thing Hank…" Logan walks up to the man bent over the kitchen counter and places a hand on his shoulder and whispers: "You should take a break from our… side project… disappear with Betts for a few days… we can hold things down here."
No one else can hear the exchange, but it's evident that whatever Logan said to him improves his mood. "Are you certain?" Hank had been getting closer to a practical understanding of the device and how to counter it, but he was reaching the limit of his expertise. Unless he was willing to go after his doctorate in engineering with a minor astrophysics, he was going to hit the wall soon.
"Yeah, Summers and me are gonna call in a favor to get ya some help." Logan had wanted to keep this within the mutant community, but Scott convinced him that they had to start changing the way they handled things. Too often in the past they viewed things as mutant versus human, but the way things have been going lately they could no longer afford to be so narrow minded. "Better late than never, right?"
"You're making a run to Home Depot, Logan?"
Logan turns to face Forge with a smirk. "Yeah, probably… Why, you want something?" Logan may not exactly like the man but since Forge seemed to have abandoned his quest for Ororo, he was finding him a little more tolerable. Besides, the kids seemed to have really developed a liking for the mutant creator.
"Not unless they've started carrying cold fusion generation engines…" Before Logan can wonder about the man's strange behavior he's asked another question.
"Mind if I tag along?" Aaron asks from his spot in the doorway. "Basketball court could use some repair. Don't want Drake to have any excuses when he loses to me again…"
Logan shrugs, trying not to show how much Aaron's request means to him. "Sure thing kid," They had spent very little time together since Logan discovered who he really was. Both were still trying to figure out how they fit in each other's' lives.
"If you're going to the Home Depot by Carina's I'd like to go as well…" Storm wasn't going to miss an opportunity to take a look the early summer fashion. That and she wanted the chance to interact with Logan and Aaron together. Her feelings for Logan were continuing to grow and Aaron was going to be a large part of her loves' life. She still wasn't sure how Aaron felt about that. Or her.
"You can go shopping any time, Ororo." Forge chastises, showing obvious irritation.
"Yes I certainly can, Forge, thank you for your observation." Storm replies harshly, causing everyone in the room to shift awkwardly. As much progress as Forge has made with the rest of the mutants here, Ororo, Alison and Betsy still remained united in their hatred towards him. "In fact, Rachel, why don't we both exercise our right to shop? Your telekinesis would be a boon to our purchasing ability."
-Forge's lab, three hours ago-
"Hill."
"If you're calling about whether I've received your plans for the condensed power units I have. They're brilliant… blah, blah, blah… you're a genius without peer… yada, yada, yada, yada… You'll have to forgive me, but I don't have the time to stroke your ego properly-"
"The target is leaving the nest." Forge interrupts. Though he's a little disappointed at her flippant attitude towards his work, it was his best yet; he is excited at the idea of finally being rid of Logan.
"We're a little busy with other things right now, Forge."
"I thought you wanted Logan?" Forge asks frustrated. Logan hadn't left the mansion since his last meeting with Hill. This was the chance they both have been waiting for. "I mean he won't be alone, Storm and Phoenix will be with him along with his son but I'm sure you have people who can handle-"
"Where will they be?" Hill's interest picks up instantly. She motions to someone in her background animatedly, while keeping Forge on the phone. "I'll need all the details you can give me!"
"I'll text you the address." Forge agrees excited. "Just wait until Storm and Phoenix separate from them and you can have two new weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D. to play with!" Although he bore no animosity towards Aaron in general, he knew the young man would not rest until Logan was returned. That as his presence would remind Ororo of Logan; reducing his chances at reconciliation with her.
"Of course," Hill agrees quickly. "We have no interest in the women whatsoever…"
-Just outside the Lincoln Tunnel, now-
"You bastards…!"
"Just be glad we ain't here for you, punk."
Logan can only watch as they pull Rachel's unconscious body from the overturned SUV. He struggles to free himself from the wreckage, every move a new agony.
"Maybe we should put one in his eye," One of the soldiers suggests, pointing his weapon at the helpless Logan. "Put him out of his misery… and ours."
"Nah, you'll just piss him off." A voice comments with obvious amusement. "Carbonadium is even harder to come by than Adamantium. The twelve shells we pumped into him and his boy cost just under a half million. Not to mention the special modifications… regular bullets just ain't enough to put this dog down. Is it Logan?"
Straining in his position Logan is able to make out a familiar face. "Hill?"
"Your country is extremely thankful for your contribution," Maria turns to watch two men load Rachel into a chamber in the back of moving van. "The girl is in good hands…"
Logan's eyes narrow in anger. "You ain't Hill…"
Hill drops to a knee beside the wreckage and whispers: "No fooling the nose, is there? Or maybe you just haven't forgotten the last time we were this close?" Hill allows her eyes to yellow as she leans in to kiss Logan's forehead. "Anytime you want to finish what we started in that tent… I'm game."
-5th and Broadway-
"Give us your cell phone!"
Ororo had managed to escape the pursuers but was now having a problem getting a teenager to give up her smartphone, even though the girl could clearly see Aaron in the passenger seat slowly dying.
"I'm downloading something!" The girl cries out in protest. Ororo, no longer interested in trying to appeal to the girl's compassion, snatches the phone and shoves her roughly to the ground.
"Honestly!" Ororo cries out in frustration as she dials the institute number. "Robert? We need the X-men!" Ororo relates the situation as quickly as she can to Robert Drake as Aaron watches weakly from the corvette.
"Man… I'll never hear the end of this one…" Aaron groans. Despite his attempt to make light of the situation, he knows if he doesn't get these slugs out him soon, he won't have to worry about shame; he'll be dead.
"They're on their way," Ororo reassures, looking around cautiously. She wishes she knew how Logan and Rachel were doing, but once they are able to synch up with the rest of the X-men, she's confident they'll find them. "Just sit tight-"
Surprising both of them, a man appears behind Ororo and sticks a needle in her neck.
"Ororo!"
"Wish I had time to stay and finish you off kid," The man Aaron recognizes as Telford Porter, better known as the Vanisher laughs as Ororo quickly loses consciousness. He clashed with him once on assignment in Chile. The encounter left the mutant teleporter in traction for eight months. "But your time is coming soon enough!" With that he disappears with Ororo.
-Four Queens Hotel, eight months ago-
"You were certainly correct about the salmon, Victor…" Mystique admits, sliding away from the table. She hadn't made up her mind yet about him, but she was beginning to see there were merits to Victor's plan. She moves to the balcony, to look out at the city.
"Still not convinced about my offer though, are you?" Victor asks wiping his mouth before standing to join Mystique on the balcony. Once next to her, he leans against the railing. "I'll admit that you have every right to be apprehensive, but the enemy of my enemy-"
"Will eventually become my enemy too." Mystique finishes turning to face Doom. "But until that time becomes a reality…"
Taking Mystique's hand he kisses it with a smile. "Yes, until then…"
"Ummm… so what's our next move?"
Both Mystique and Doom turn to Angelica, but it is Doom who speaks. "Next we have to make some allies for our cause… and I know where we need to start…"
-Institute grounds, front entrance, now-
Charles Xavier feels his heart pounding nervously as he positions his hand to knock. Fury helped create a back story for him and with his natural psychic defenses he shouldn't have an issue making his former students believe it. He's here as a human physician sent by Moira Mactaggert to help the school. In time, there would be no need for the subterfuge, but as everyone kept telling him now was not the time for the big reveal.
When his hand hits the front door, however the door opens easily and he steps inside. His confusion over the ease of access is answered after a quick mental probe determines the situation. The first to notice him, as he walks through the foyer, is one of his favorite former students; Kitty Pryde.
"If you're here to attack us, do you mind coming back tomorrow? Today is not a good day." Kitty announces, holding several towels in her hands.
"I am not." Charles reassures with a strained smile, he can scarcely believe that this is the same timid girl who he used to have to force to speak up in class. "My name is David Francis, Moira Mactaggert sent me here, she thought the school could need a true medial professional."
"David! Your timing could not possibly be better!" Scott announces with urgency, grabbing his arm. Charles is glad that Fury convinced him to create this back story and even more relieved that Moira went along with it. She contacted Scott about his arrival so that they would be expecting him. Xavier, of course is shocked to see Scott again. Although he did know from his monitoring of the school during his recovery that Scott was in fact alive, it was still jarring to see him. "We need your help David! Come on!"
-Infirmary-
"These restraints really necessary?" Logan questions as Beast affixes the metal clamps over his arms and legs. Most of the bleeding had stopped, but he still lost a great deal of blood. Even if he wanted to thrash about, he wasn't sure he could.
"Since you and Aaron both still have enough healing ability for anesthesia to be completely ineffective, it's more for our protection…" Beast prepares a scalpel and takes a deep breath. "This is really going to hurt, Logan…"
"Me and pain are best buddies, Hank." Logan grits his teeth and closes his eyes. In his mind, nothing could hurt more than knowing that both Ororo and Rachel had been taken from them. He assumed that the attackers were after him and possibly Aaron, but he was wrong and someone was going to pay for that as soon as he was healthy again.
"Hank, this David Francis, the surgeon Moira sent us," Scott announces as he bursts into the room. When he and the X-men arrived on the bridge where Aaron was slumped in the passenger seat, he didn't think the young man would make it. And when they found Logan bleeding next to an overturned SUV he was sure Logan was done for. These two men were made of something that could not be easily destroyed, but it was obvious they were approaching their limit. "David, scrub up and start digging!" Cyclops hopes that once the metal is out of their bodies, they'll recover quickly.
It was unusual for Charles to take orders from Scott, but one glance around the room told him what he needed to do. "On it!" Taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves he preps to work on the young man who he knows is Logan's son. It's unnerving watching the bullet holes close and reopen again in rapid succession.
"I'd prefer to be worked on by a physician in my network…" Aaron jokes looking up at David calmly. "My insurance is pretty particular…"
"Moira vouches for him Aaron, so unless you'd rather bleed out…" Scott knows Aaron is putting on a brave front, but one look at his vital signs tells him they're running out of time.
Aaron nods and closes his eyes. His mother taught him a few techniques to deal with the excruciating pain that was to come. Slowing his breathing, he focuses on the day's events, trying to make sense of it all.
The attackers knew where they were going to be ahead of time. That was evident by the efficiency of the attack. It was also apparent that they knew who they were going to be facing and how to neutralize them. In Aaron's experience there were only two possible explanations.
Either they had someone on the inside feeding them information or they had surveillance on the institute. The latter was not as likely due to the constant sweeps he and others conducted on the grounds to make sure any unaccounted for devices were destroyed. The former was disturbing, almost as disturbing as watching a total stranger digging into his torso with a pair of forceps.
"Take a guy out to dinner first, will ya doc?" Aaron groans as David pulls a Carbonadium slug from his body. Aaron looks at the slug curiously because it is not designed like any he'd seen before. He makes a note to study it more carefully if he manages to live.
"If you survive this, young man, you can pick the restaurant." Charles jokes back, pulling another slug free of his chest. He had his doubts if he would be able to recover all six. With each slug he removed, his body begins to heal faster. Being younger and not having the Adamantium skeleton that Logan does, his healing ability is stronger than his fathers'. "Just four more to go…"
Aaron nods and resumes his meditation.
Smart suit technology they were wearing is definitely S.H.I.E.L.D. design, but the Carbonadium bullets were not. Even the cursory glance that Aaron was able to get at the bullet removed from him told him that. Someone with some serious engineering ability had to design these.
"Scott." David's voice interrupts Aaron's contemplation and he opens his eyes.
"David?" Scott had been assisting Hank with Logan's operation, which so far had been going smoothly. Logan only had four bullets in him; the rest glanced off of his Adamantium skeleton.
"The last slug…" Aaron looks up at the newest addition and wonders what the issue is. That is until he looks down to see his completely healed torso.
"Never thought it'd be an issue that I heal so quick…"
"Adjust your visor to its narrowest setting and burrow…" David pulls a sharpie from his pocket and marks a spot just below Aaron's collarbone. "Here."
Scott turns the dial on the side of his visor and looks down at Aaron. "Aaron-"
"Just do it already!" Aaron groans weakly. His flesh may be healed, but he was nowhere near being back to full strength.
For the last time, Aaron cries out in pain.
-Forge's lab-
"You lied to me!"
"So?"
Forge is taken aback by Hill's response. When he arrived on the scene, he felt sick when he saw the condition of Aaron. Not because the young man was near death, but because he was alone. The second scene just made him angry, seeing Logan also by himself. "You told me-"
"Listen closely Forge: your services are no longer required. If you attempt to contact me again, I willexpose your role in this to your precious X-men. And I trust I don't have to spell out for you what Logan will do to you once he knows what you've done?"
Forge shudders at the thought. He'd already seen a sample of Logan's rage. And even though he expects someone would step in to stop Wolverine, he's not sure they would be able to. Not considering what's happened. "What do you plan on doing with them?" Forge asks fearfully.
The only answer he receives is silence as the line is disconnected.
In a rage he throws his phone against the wall and it shatters in seemingly a thousand pieces. He drops to the floor sobbing loudly, unable to comprehend the damage he's now done.
-Latveria, underground laboratory of Victor Von Doom-
"Remove the hood."
Storm blinks, trying to get her bearings as she comes face to face with the iron mask of Doom. "Why have you done this?" To her knowledge Doom had no grudge against the X-men, he seemed to focus his energy on a certain foursome.
"Would you believe in order to make a better world?" Doom offers, taking his mask off to look the exotic mutant in the eye. Since he saw her on television fighting against Magneto he'd found her intriguing. Her powers made her ideal for what he had in mind, but he had to admit he had an ulterior motive.
"I believe that you believe that," Storm answers trying to determine her surroundings. "Every tyrant thinks their goals are altruistic…" Near as she could tell she was in an underground facility. The stale air suggests that it had only recently been in use. There was a large machine to her left, with a tank of a strange green fluid next to it. She can't help but remember Rogue telling her of being submerged in a similar substance when she was held captive.
"True. But I invite you to determine my motives by my results…" Doom releases her from the shackles that bind her and she rubs her wrists in surprise. Though there is a guard on each side of her, she's free to act on her own.
"Why- ah… of course…" When she tries to access her mutant abilities she finds no response. "You've taken my abilities…"
"No one can take away what you are, Ororo Monroe." Doom offers turning away from her, inviting her to follow him. "All I've done is… cut you off from using them against me…"
Ororo reaches up to scratch her neck, noting there appears to be a small rash there. "You injected me with something…"
Doom turns to face her and smiles; beautiful, intelligent and powerful. It seemed amazing to him to encounter not one, or two but three women in his lifetime with such qualities. Given time he hoped to turn her to his side. "Yes. A little something I've come up with… it's a small device that attaches itself to your brain stem. Whenever you brain sends down impulses to activate your mutant powers, the signal is diverted." Doom removes a device from his cloak. "To this device, allowing me to determine whether the signal continues or dissipates. I hope that it is a… temporary measure…"
"Why can you not use your formidable intellect to the betterment of mankind?" Ororo asks impressed. "Think of all the good you could have done… could still do…" She often wondered why the most brilliant of men often seemed to be driven by their own selfish desires.
"I am." Doom answers directing her attention to the tank that she can now see contains a naked Rachel Summers. She floats, completely immersed in the green fluid, with several wires attached to her body. "This; is the beginning of a Utopia for us all!" Doom walks over to the machine and as he turns his back, Ororo knocks out a guard with a double fisted blow and kicks another in the face. Before she can turn her attention to Doom she falls to floor in pain.
"The device also allows him to control the brain's pain center…"
Ororo looks up curiously at the woman walking towards her. She has met Maria Hill once before and although they have found themselves on the opposite side of conflicts in the past, she respected the woman. "Why have you thrown in with Doom?"
Shifting into her base form, Mystique stands over the mutant woman. "This answer your question?"
"Mystique!" Storm is surprised to see the mutant here, apparently still in possession of her abilities. The last she knew, Mystique was in government custody and depowered.
"I think you've had enough education for today." With a well-placed blow she knocks Ororo unconscious, prompting Doom to turn to her angrily. "What? There will be plenty of time for you to… break her in later… don't you think it's time you turned this thing on?"
Doom smiles and walks over to the console. "Yes. Yes I do…" With a flick of a switch the device hums to life, using Rachel as the conduit to connect to the most powerful force in the universe.
A/N: The world turns with the flip of a switch! Next up; realities bite!