Two weeks later…
Everyone, with the exception of Moira, was hanging out in the rec room. They were all doing their 'usuals'. Raven, Angel, and Hank were playing a game, Alex and Darwin were playing pinball, Sean was looking at his fish, Charles and Erik were playing chess, and Dakota was complaining about anything and everything.
"Why do you guys always have to play chess?" she whined; she sat next to Charles, leaning her head on his shoulder. "There are other games you know."
"We know that," Charles said not looking up from the chess board.
Dakota groaned, "Talk about two boring long weeks. You know what the most exciting part of these two weeks was?" Sean turned around, curious to hear her answer. "Feeding Sean's fish! That was the most exciting part of two very long weeks."
"You forgot how Alex tried to cook dinner last Wednesday and almost started the whole base on fire," Sean quipped.
Dakota rolled her head off of Charles' shoulder. "Yeah. I guess that was pretty exciting."
"And hilarious," Raven added from her table.
"Alright, will everyone just drop it," Alex said now facing the whole group. "It wasn't even my fault. It was that stupid oven's fault."
"Blame the oven all you want, dear heart." Dakota stretched her arms over her head. "I'm just glad I'm not the only one who can't cook."
Moira rushed in through the doors. "Hey. Charles, Dakota, Erik there's a meeting in the agent's office in like two minutes. The director is here, along with that Agent Stryker. If you want to come in and help me persuade them to let you guys come and help us find Shaw, then-"
"-then we better go to the meeting right now. If they can stop obsessing over their bloody game, Charles and Erik can go." Dakota got up from the couch, "I'll stay here and watch the kiddies."
Charles and Erik got up too, after they each played one more turn. "Are you sure you don't want to come?" Charles asked. Dakota shook her head.
"You guys go. I'll stay here." She started pushing both of them towards the door. Erik brushed her hand off of him.
"Okay we're going, you don't have to push." She smirked at Erik. "And don't touch our game."
"Won't dream about it." Charles, Erik, and Moira left the room. Dakota locked the door behind them and shouted a small 'yippee'. Everyone glance at her.
"Kiddies?" Darwin asked mockingly.
"Sorry about that. I had to make up something, I thought they would never leave." As she talked, she walked to the wet bar and grabbed out seven glasses. Then she surveyed the back wall for a good bottle of alcohol.
"What are you doing?" Angel asked, running her hand through her black hair.
"I am tired of the most exciting part of my week being almost fires and fish. No offense Red."
"None taken," he said, now standing with the rest of the group, who had migrated over to the wet bar. She grabbed a bottle of some sort of spiced rum. She unscrewed the cap and poured the brown liquid into six of the seven glasses. She poured some raspberry flavored water that she had found into her own glass.
"What's this for?" Darwin asked.
"We are having a party," Dakota said and motioned for the others to take a glass.
"Alright," Angel said, taking a glass. She sat down on one of the couches; Darwin soon had his drink and was next to her. Sean looked at the liquor with a torn expression. He began to wonder at what point had he ended up in a bar that didn't ask people for their ages.
"I'm only seventeen. I can't drink." Alex hit the teen in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked rubbing his head.
"For being an idiot. When someone gives you alcohol you don't tell 'em that you're underage! That's basic." He took his glass and a bottle of beer and sat in one of the plush chairs. Raven took her drink; Hank declined his and had some of Dakota's raspberry water. They sat on the couch opposite from Angel and Darwin. Sean eyed the last glass.
"Come on, Red." Sean still just eyed the glass. "I wouldn't tell Charles." He looked up at Dakota; she smirked. Sean sighed and finally took the glass and sat down in another plush chair near Alex. Dakota did move Charles and Erik's game from the coffee table to one of the tables in the back. At least there it couldn't get hurt. After a few drinks they all started having some fun.
"We should think of code names," Raven said after a while. "We're government agents now, we should come up with code names. I want to be called Mystique."
"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique," Sean joked.
"Well, tough. I called it." She shifted her form so she looked exactly like Sean.
"Whoa!" Sean jumped back in his chair. Everyone else laughed in amazement. (Though they all knew each other for a little over two weeks, none of them really discussed their powers. And if they did then they never showed them off.)
Raven; in Sean's voice, said, "And I'm way more mysterious then you." Sean sat down his drink and clapped his hands; he was both amazed and shocked. Everyone else clapped too.
"My sister, ladies and gentlemen," Dakota laughed.
"Thank you, thank you," Raven said, bowing from where she sat. "Darwin, what about you?"
"Well, 'Darwin' is already a nickname, and, you know, it sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all. Check this out." He got up from the couch and walked over to the fish tank. Everyone watched as he put his head in the water. A second later he grew gills!
"Whoa!"
"That's cool, man!"
"Alright!"
"That is impressive."
He took his head out of the water and shook off the excess water. Everyone clapped again. "Thank you, thank you," he said, repeating what Raven had said. He pointed to Sean, "What about you?" Sean sat, folded his hands together, and pondered for a moment.
"I'm going to be…Banshee."
"Fitting," Dakota remarked. Sean gave her a small smirk.
"Wait, why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked setting his glass on the coffee table. Sean smiled cockily and stood up. He moved all the glasses on the table in a straight line.
When he was satisfied with his work he added, "You all might want to cover your ears." Everyone, with the exception of Dakota, looked perplexed, but they did what they were told. Sean knelt down so he was at the same level as the table. He took a deep breath in and let out a screech. Sean's plan was to shatter the glasses, but somehow he must've lifted his head too high, because instead of shattering the row of glasses he shattered the huge window that had a nice view of the courtyard. Sean stared wide eyed at the, now broken window. Dakota clapped approvingly, and everyone else laughed at the teen's mistake. He shrugged and pointed to Angel. "Your turn."
"Well, my real name and stage name is Angel." She stood up and took off her leather jacket, revealing her backless dress, where everyone could see the tattoos on her back. Darwin whistled. Angel winked at him. Her tattoos moved and came alive taking the form of her wings. "It kind of fits."
"You can fly?" Raven exclaimed.
"Uh-huh." Angel glanced over her shoulder at Raven. "And…" Angel spit a little flaming ball of acid at the statue in the middle of the courtyard. The acid hit the statue on the head and burnt through the first few layers of bronze. Again, everyone laughed and clapped and carried on. She put her jacket back on and glanced at Dakota. "What's your name?"
"Dakota Patience, what's yours?" She smirked. Raven rolled her eyes but looked like she wanted to laugh.
"Can you ever take anything seriously?" Alex grumbled.
Dakota arched an eyebrow at him. "Can I ever take anything seriously? Can I? Dear heart, please. I wasn't the one locked up in one of the country's highest security penitentiaries, now was I? Can I be serious? Ha!"
"Thank you, British for the 'Ha!' of the day. But if you don't mind getting back to the actual question…"
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll go by TimeX." Darwin and Hank shared a glance.
"I'll ask this time," Darwin said, then he cleared his throat. "Why do you want to be named after a watch brand?"
"Because one of my powers is super speed."
"Really?" Hank asked, intrigued. Dakota nodded.
"You're all missing the fact that it is only one of her powers," Sean said, before downing the rest of his drink. He was really starting to have a taste for that spiced rum.
"You have more than the three powers?" Darwin asked. Dakota glanced to him, then to everyone else in the room.
"I can sense mutants and their powers, I can heal others, I have super speed, I have this power called the connection, I have some telepathic power, and I can use my speed to break the time barrier." She crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap.
"Wait-you can time travel?" Hank concluded. Sean looked at Dakota with wide eyes. She smirked and nodded quickly. Everyone was amazed.
"So, have you seen the future?"
"Some of it, how do you think I know all those future songs?"
"What's it like?"
"Did you see me?"
"Who's the president then?"
"Have flying cars been invited yet?"
"Wait! Hold it!" Dakota yelled. Everyone quieted down. "Talk about a bunch of loud kids! Jeez! Alright, what's it like? It's just like this only faster paced. No Alex, I didn't see you. Who's the president? Depends on the time frame. And no Sean, I have never seen a flying car in the future."
Sean snapped his fingers and mumbled, "Darn."
Dakota shook her head and adjusted her pearl bracelet. "Hank, what about you?" Hank turned away, slightly embarrassed by being put on the spot like that. He didn't want a code name.
"How about Big Foot?" Alex mocked. Raven turned on him, before Dakota could.
"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet." Alex glanced over at her, she raised her eyebrows and looked down at his feet. "And yours are kind of small." Dakota swallowed down a laugh, but couldn't help but let a smile shine through. Sean laughed and didn't stop for a while.
"Okay, now," Darwin said in a semi-serious voice. Hank smiled slightly at Raven; his way of saying 'thank you'. She glanced at him and then at her shoes. "Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Alex wished he could shrink away or even turn invisible. He did not want to show off his so called 'gift'. He struggled to come up with an excuse.
"It's not…um, I just can't do it. I can't do it in here."
"Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked, pointing to the courtyard.
"Yeah, why don't you do it out there?"
"Come on!"
Then someone started chanting, "Alex! Alex! Alex!" Soon everyone was chanting his name and Alex rolled his eyes. These people weren't going to shut up until he showed them his power. (Sigh.) He sat his bottle of beer on the table and stood up. Everyone cheered.
"That's the spirit!" Darwin exclaimed. Alex didn't even give him a passing glance as he stepped out of the room; via the broken window; and walked to the far right part of the courtyard.
"Get back when I tell you," he grumbled. Everyone stood by the window and leaned out of it so they could see what was happening.
"Get back when I tell you?" Sean asked laughing. Dakota gave him a look that said 'just you wait and see'. Alex prepared himself.
"Get back." Everyone took a step back away from the window, except for Dakota. She glanced back at the others and then went back to looking at Alex. The others took a step forward and were right back where they had started. Alex saw this out of the corner of his eye. He motioned his hand back and said, "Get back," a bit too sternly. Nobody moved. "Whatever."
Three rings of red energy swirled around Alex; he gritted his teeth trying to keep the very minimal control he had on the energy. He then threw the energy rings away from himself. One flew and hit one of the buildings, another skidded right past the broken window everyone was leaning out of. (Everyone, including Dakota, jumped back). But the last one cut the statue in the courtyard right in half. The ends that had been cut were now on fire. Alex looked at the mild destruction he had caused and half excepted everyone to run away screaming.
Instead, Raven and Angel stared clapping and jumping up and down with excitement. Darwin, Sean, and Dakota clapped with less enthusiasm, but still approving. Hank was the only one shell shocked. He just stared at the statue with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. "Shut your mouth." Hank did and turned to see Dakota giving him a look. She turned back to the courtyard.
"Talk about a power that can cause havoc and chaos. I'm impressed," she told Alex as he came back into the rec room.
"That's it!" Sean exclaimed.
"What's it?"
"Alex's name will be Havoc!" Dakota's eyes lit up.
"Yeah! But 'havoc'…with a k at the end instead of a c." Sean and Dakota nodded together, happy with their idea. Alex didn't like it.
"Wait a minute. Shouldn't I be the one who comes up with my name?"
"No," Sean and Dakota said in stereo.
"Oh, come on Alex. It's a good name," Angel said, and it was the only time she ever backed up anything that Dakota said. Alex thought for a minute, then finally gave in and agreed he would use the code name Havok.
A few minutes later the party started to become a bit more obnoxious. Raven put a quarter in the juke box; that was near the fish tank; and everyone started dancing. Alex and Darwin moved one of the couches out of the way so there would be more room. Angel half flew, half danced. Darwin later made a bet with Alex and Sean that he would be able to adapt to anything they threw at him. So, they literary threw everything at him, trying to win the bet of $200. Dakota then put on one of her cassette tapes. The first song was 'In the Night' by The Weeknd.
"Hey, I like this song," Sean said, while taking a break from trying to hit Darwin with a baseball bat.
"Yeah," Dakota said, dancing on the couch with Raven. "It's one of my favorites. From 2015 anyways." Hank choked on his raspberry water. "Hank? You alright?" He nodded, embarrassed. "Well, he's taking the time-traveling thing well, isn't he?" Raven smirked and agreed.
Later they changed from listening to 'the epic sounds of the future' (that's what Sean called Dakota's music) back to some of the records that were in the juke box.
"Hey, there are records in the rec room!" Angel laughed.
"Angel, love, are you drunk?" Darwin asked.
"Me? Drunk? No." She hiccupped, and flew backwards into a wall. Everyone laughed.
Hank took of his shoes and used his hand feet to hang from the light in the middle of the room.
"Wowie-wow wow! Hank can literary dance on the ceiling!" Sean joked.
"Hey!" Alex exclaimed.
"Hey yourself," Sean said.
"No, not you. TimeX," he pointed to Dakota. She was still jumping on the couch with Raven.
"That's my new name, don't wear it out."
"I just thought of something. If you're TimeX, then the Professor can be Professor X."
"Bloody hell. I do believe that is the first good idea this old chap has gotten," Dakota said, exaggerating her British accent. Raven laughed so hard she fell down. Hank asked from the ceiling if she was alright. She nodded. Sean and Alex continued to throw stuff at Darwin; shoes, bottles, chairs, but Darwin still stood tall; he had adapted to all objects that were chucked his way, by covering his body with black scales. (Alex said they should throw the fish tank at Darwin, but Sean declared that he would die before killing his fish friends.)
"Hey, what's Erik's name?" someone asked after a while. Dakota stood on the couch thinking for a while until her blue eyes lit up again.
"I've got it! I've got it! Bloody best idea ever! Erik's name will be…"
Moira, Agent Levene, the agent, and Agent Stryker all sat waiting for the director to come back with any new information about Shaw. Moira fiddled with her class ring on her right ring finger. He should have been back by now. Charles and Erik had sat in for the first half of the meeting but were asked to leave during the second half. They had told everyone that now sat around the table, that they were positive that if all of the mutants were allowed to assist Moira and Agent Levene in their mission to take in Shaw, they would prove themselves to be very useful.
Moira just hoped that Shaw was really going to Russia like they thought. The director came back into the room. "We got intel that Shaw is meeting with the Russian Defense Chief in Moscow." He took his seat at the front of the table. "So go ahead. Say it," he told Moira.
She shook her head, "I'm not here to say 'I told you so'. You know why I'm here."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The director went back to flipping the intelligence papers. Moira continued to fiddle with her ring; she hated being ignored like that. A minute later the director glanced back at her. He looked up surprised, as if he thought that she had left already. "Clearance to bring along your mutants?" he asked, mockingly. Moira swallowed down the insult that came to mind and force a gentle smile and nodded.
The director nodded thinking. "Fight fire with fire. It makes sense."
"Wait! You're okay with this?" Stryker intervened. "Sending in a bunch of untrained, unauthorized freaks?" Moira bit her tongue, she very much wanted to stand up and defend them. But she didn't have to; the agent did it for her.
"These freaks are dedicated, hardworking people."
Moira came out of the office and headed to where Charles and Erik sat waiting. She told them that they all had clearance. Charles clapped his hands together, "Good! Now let's go tell the others."
Erik had told the group of agents in the meeting that he had wanted the young mutants to join them in Russia, but now that he thought about it, those kids weren't ready for this.
"Charles perhaps, the kids can help us a different time. After they have some real training."
Charles smiled and patted Erik on the shoulder. "Don't worry my friend, they'll be fine." Erik hated being brushed off like that. The two men followed Moira down a corridor that lead to one of the courtyards, from there they could get to the rec room.
"The plane leaves for Russia in an hour," Moira reminded them.
"I'm telling you, these kids are not ready for Shaw," Erik said, not leaving the subject alone.
"I think they're gonna surprise you. They're an exceptional bunch of young people," Charles said, standing up for them. (If only he knew.) They all heard loud music blaring, as they turned into the courtyard.
"What the hell?" Moira asked taking in the now cut in half statue. The three of them marched over to the broken window.
They were met with a crazy site: Raven and Dakota were dancing on the couch, Angel was flying around in a wavy matter, Hank was hanging from the ceiling, Darwin was covered in his protective scales, and Alex and Sean were hitting him with chairs and baseball bats. No one in the room noticed Charles, Erik, and Moira staring at them in both anger and disbelief.
"What are you doing?!" Moira yelled. Dakota turned, and saw the three of them glaring at them.
'Uh-oh.'
'You bet uh-oh!'
'Oh, hi Charles!'
Everyone else saw them too and stopped what they were doing. Sean dropped the chair, Hank dropped back to the floor, Angel stopped flying, Darwin's scales disappeared.
"Who destroyed the statue?" Moira asked, looking not too happy. Sean couldn't help but think that she was even more beautiful when she was angry, but now was probably not the best time to tell her that.
"It was Alex," Hank answered quickly. Alex glared at the guy.
"No, Havok," Raven corrected. "We have to call him Havok. That's his name now. And we were thinking-"
"Yeah, we were thinking," Dakota jumped off the couch and took a few steps towards the three in the courtyard. "You should be Professor X," she pointed to Charles. Moira stared at Dakota like she was crazy. Charles' stern expression did not change. "And you," she pointed to Erik, "should be Magneto." She smiled at him and he just stared at her. She was so pretty and her eyes were filled with wanted approval.
All he could think to say was what Charles had said about the mutants who now stood in front of him. "Exceptional." Dakota's eyes changed to something that resembled confusion. He held her stare and walked away. Moira shook her head and followed him. Charles' eyes scanned over all the young mutants, then focused in on Dakota and Raven.
"I expect more from you." He turned and left. Dakota's gaze dropped to her shoes. She glanced over at the others who didn't say anything and dropped their gazes as well. She looked at Raven, whose expression had guilt laced through it. This just made her blood boil. It wasn't Raven's fault; it wasn't the kids fault. It was hers.
And now Charles, Erik, and Moira thought that they all were a bunch of reckless kids. She sucked in a breath of air and let come out. "You guys wait here." She stepped out of the window and stormed after the three of them.
A few minutes later, Dakota came back with Charles and Erik in tow and Moira quickly following behind them. None of them were too happy to be brought back to the rec room.
"Dakota, if we are going to go to Russia, then we need to get ourselves ready and prepared," Moira said, as Dakota let go of Charles and Erik and took a few steps toward the rec room.
"'Ready' and 'prepared' mean the same thing," Sean said quickly to Moira. The brunette glared at the red head. Sean nervously smile; why did he say that? Dakota took a few seconds to arch her eyebrow at him; she was wondering the same thing. He shrugged. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Smooth, Sean. Real smooth." She rubbed her head, feeling like she was about to get a migraine, then turned back to Charles, Moira, and Erik. "Are they coming with us?" she motioned her head backwards towards the still silent kids. Erik glanced at Charles.
"We have discussed, that it would be better if they stayed here," Charles said. He still seemed ticked off about the whole thing. Dakota shook her head and chuckled.
"You call Erik making a suggestion, you three seeing a party, and deciding something last minute, discussing?"
Charles tried really hard not to glare at her. "Dakota."
"No. No. Don't 'Dakota' me. We had some fun and we should not be penalized for it."
"We are just suggesting that they all get some proper training in before we send them out into possible dangerous situations," Erik explained. Dakota's gaze softened when she looked to him. She nodded.
"Alright. I understand that, but I have the feeling that the reason Charles here, doesn't want them to come is because of the party scene."
"Well, what if it is?" Charles asked, getting tired of this conversation.
"The party wasn't the kid's idea." Charles' eyebrows knitted together confused. "It was mine." Erik rubbed his forehead; he had a feeling that this wasn't going to go well.
Charles looked at Dakota in disbelieve. "What?"
"I…was tired of the event less weeks so, I livened up the night with some music and dancing and…alcohol." She said 'alcohol' in an almost whisper but Charles heard her never the less.
"Alcoh-? What were you-! Some of them are underage!" Charles yelled motioning to Alex and Sean. Dakota flinched at his yell.
"I'm aware of that," she said not meeting his glare. She bite the inside of her mouth.
Charles laughed one of his humorless laughs and ran his hands through his hair. "This is ridiculous and irresponsible, Dakota!"
"Oh, like you have never done anything irresponsible!" she yelled back.
"That is neither here nor there."
Dakota scoffed.
Moira felt very awkward just standing here watching them fight. She felt like was watching a 'Days of Our Lives' episode, filled with drama and fighting. Erik felt like he was intruding in on the couple's argument. Thou he was torn if he should just leave or tell Charles to stop yelling at Dakota. Angel and Darwin glanced at each other.
"Well this is fun," Angel whispered.
"Yeah," Darwin half chuckled.
"I hope we are never like this," she said, still a little tipsy.
"Oh? We're going to get as far as they have?" Angel faced him with her mouth open. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. She tried to say something but instead closed her mouth and smiled back. They held each other's hand as the fighting continued.
Sean felt like he was back home, 'cause Mom and Dad were fighting again. Alex was almost enjoying the 'action'. This was his most exciting part of the previous two weeks. (Not including the party of course.) Hank was listening to what Charles and Dakota were saying but his attention was really focused on Raven, who had her head lowered. She was used to this. Their fighting was nothing brand new. Hank laid his hand on her shoulder.
"You know, let me make this really easy for you Charles. Either they come or I don't come."
"Well, this just got dramatic," Alex mumbled.
Charles shook his head, and Erik could tell that he was just upset with the whole situation. And upset people make irrational decisions. "We'll see you in a few days, Dakota." He spun on his heels and started to walk away.
"What?" Dakota asked, stunned.
"You did make this easy, Dakota. And I guess you're not coming." He held her stunned gaze for a second, and seemed to be regretting his decision, but then he continued to walk away. Dakota was shocked; she really thought that her idle threat would work.
She turned back to the rec room and stepped into the room. The young mutants watched her walk to the coffee table, grab her glass, throw it against the wall, and walk to the wet bar. Everyone in the room jumped when the glass shattered against the wall. Moira eyed Dakota, and felt very awkward. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, I'll just be going back to get my things for Russia." But nobody, not even Sean was listening to her. She took this time to sneak away.
Erik was just as shocked as Dakota. He understood that Charles was upset and even a bit disappointed, but he had no right to yell at Dakota like that. At least Erik didn't think he had the right. He followed in Dakota's footsteps into the rec room. The group of young mutants stared at him as he looked around the rec room. He glanced at the broken glass from the window, then to Sean. "This your doing?" Sean shrugged. He continued walking around the room. "And I assume mister attitude is the one who decided to saw the statue in half?" Alex smirked and took another gulp from his beer bottle.
Erik glanced and then held his stare on Dakota who had her arms crossed and was facing towards Cerebro. He turned back to the kids. "You all better start cleaning up this mess. You think Charles and Moira were upset, wait until the agent sees this."
"Oh man," Sean said. "I never thought of that."
"Yeah, well, you never think of anything," Alex grumbled. Sean made a fist and shook it around.
"How would you like a broken nose?"
"Red, if you get blood on the carpet you clean it up," Dakota said, not looking away from Cerebro. Alex took another gulp of his beer, put it down on the table, and got right in Sean's face.
"You got to be crazy or drunk if you think you can fight me."
"Oh, I don't want to fight you. I just want to belt you one."
Erik rolled his eyes and rubbed his head "Will you both knock it off? Find some sort of truce and just pick up the God damn rec room."
"Jeez, what a grouch," Angel commented.
Erik marched over to where the kids stood. "I have been living off of five hours of sleep every night for the past month. You think Dakota is hard to deal with, you think Moira and Charles are too serious? Well, let me give you all fair warning, you do not want to mess with me, because I'm the worst of them all. So, get to work!"
Everyone quick got to work picking up glasses, moving the furniture back, and sweeping up the broken shards of glass. Erik nodded, satisfied that everyone was working. He walk over to Dakota; she stood, arms crossed, with a new glass filled to the brim with raspberry water. Erik leaned against the window frame near the pinball machine.
Alex glanced over at the two by the window. He whispered to Sean, "Truce for now. I don't want to deal with either of them."
"Agreed. I know how to talk with Dakota but I'm not even sure if there is a way to talk to mister macho over there…Oh!"
"What?"
"Mister Macho! That'll be Erik's nick-name!"
Alex slapped his forehead. Sean thought that the action was hilarious, so he broke into laughter. Alex glared at the red head. "You are impossible."
"No, I'm not," Sean said taking a breath. "But I actually might be a wee bit drunk." Alex grabbed him by the collar of his blue t-shirt and threw him over near the fish tank. After a glare thrown by both of them, they continued to clean up the room.
"So," Erik started.
"So," Dakota repeated.
"What are you drinking?" Erik asked, finally thinking of something to ask.
"Raspberry flavored water," she answered dully. She still hadn't glance at him since he had come over.
"Ah…You have the kids drink alcohol but you drink water, to be what? The good example?"
She sighed, "I already told you, I don't drink. Period."
"Well, I still find that to be ridiculous. Exclamation point."
"Well, that's your opinion, isn't it? Question mark. New paragraph. Wait what the hell am I saying?" Dakota turned to Erik, who laughed at her.
"Welcome back, I was wondering when you would realize what we were saying." He smiled at her, she didn't return it right away.
"Why were we saying punctuation marks at the end of our sentences?"
"Proper grammar?" Erik offered. Dakota glared at him. "I don't know why," he said; Dakota looked out the window again and took a sip of her water. "But you started it." He pointed to her. She almost choked on her water.
"No I didn't," she didn't yell it, but she still had a firm tone to her voice.
"You said 'period' at the end of your sentence first."
"I didn't mean period like punctuation, I meant period like-" She caught his smug grin. He was enjoying her trying to explain herself, again. (Groan.) She clenched her teeth and turned to the wet bar. "Never mind, I should have known who I was talking to before I even opened my mouth." She went behind the bar and got her water. Erik strolled over and sat on one of the stools.
"Is there anything good in this bar?"
"Not really," she refilled her glass (though there really wasn't that much to refill, because she took a sip of her already full glass.) "The one good thing about this wet bar is there are no strong guys here to throw tables at us." She smirked, and Erik chuckled.
Her sarcastic, witty, funny self was shining through.
Neither of them noticed that the kids had stopped working and were arching their necks either to see or to hear. Dakota caught some of their movement out of the corner of her eye. She leaned over the bar, inching closer to Erik. "Erik?"
"Huh?" he asked in a soft voice; he had become memorized by Dakota's eyes.
"I think we have an audience." Her eyes darted to her right. Erik followed her eyes and met the eyes of the young mutants.
"Get back to work!" The group snapped back to work after being caught trying to see what was happening between Erik and Dakota. They didn't try again; they were a bit weary of Erik and his outbursts. Not to mention Dakota's infamous outbursts.
Erik shook his head and went back to looking into Dakota's eyes. She smirked at him. "What?"
"Oh, nothing." She took a few sips of her water. "I was just thinking that you are pretty good with kids."
"Really?" Erik chuckled finding her comment absurd.
"Yeah, you should be a teacher or something."
Erik scoffed, "Doubtful."
They were quiet for a while, looking into each other's eyes. Both knew what they wanted to say about the other, but neither could find the proper words to express their hidden but obvious feelings. Erik knocked on the bar, almost anxiously. "Well."
"Well." Dakota cleared her throat and looked down at her glass.
"Well, I, uh, should probably go and get ready for…Russia." Erik stood up from the stool. Dakota opened her mouth to protest but then stopped and nodded, disappointed. Erik had so many thoughts and emotions swimming around in his head and he wasn't sure what Dakota could feel with the connection. All he knew was there was an urgent sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. Dread because he, in those few minutes of talking and teasing with Dakota, had come to terms that he was in love with her. Dread because everyone he ever loved left him in some way.
He glanced away from her eyes and started to leave. "Erik," Dakota started. Erik turned back around, perhaps a bit eagerly. Dakota struggled to find her words. "Thanks, for…everything. For helping me get my mind off of…Charles." Erik smiled slightly, and nodded. Then he left the rec room and got ready for Russia.
Dakota felt the same dread Erik had just felt. Dread because she had absolutely had no bloody idea what she was going to do about her sort of maybe feelings for Erik. She stood behind the bar, deep in thought. So deep in thought that she didn't notice Alex smirking at her.
"So, are you two gonna get a room, or what?" That broke her concentration.
"What?" she asked not really hearing him.
Alex sighed, "Are you two gonna get a room, or what?"
She heard him that time. "What? No! Erik and I are strictly friends. I don't even think of him that way." (LIE.) "And even if I did think of him like that, it wouldn't be any of your bloody business anyway!" Alex smiled and chuckled. "Don't you laugh at me! This isn't even remotely funny, dear heart!"
"Oh, really? I find this whole thing to be freakin' hilarious!" He finished his beer and threw his bottle where the kids had collected all the shards of glass. "I find it hilarious that I am the only one is not into someone."
"'Into' someone?" Raven asked, mocking him.
"Yeah. You and the nerd are into each other." Raven and Hank looked embarrassed and didn't look at each other for the rest of the night. "Angel and Darwin here are totally into each other." Darwin glanced at Angel, she glanced back.
"Is that true?" she asked.
"I think so," Darwin said. He thought for a moment. "Yeah! I'm into you." Angel smiled, her teeth showed. Alex motioned his hand to the duo, with a smug smile. Dakota rolled her eyes and downed her water.
"Then we have the Professor who's into Patience who's into the Professor and into Lehnsehrr. It is the start of the perfect love triangle cliché." Dakota glared at the teen who in turn ignored her. "And finally we have the world's most annoying seventeen year old into the world into the hottest CIA chick ever."
Sean's eyes widened.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait one flippin' minute. You telling me that Sean likes Moira?" Darwin asked finding this incredibly funny. Sean didn't know what to say.
"I-uh, well, you see-I'm not…Moira is-I don't-"
"Oi! Before Red's cheeks turn as red as hair, let's change the topic."
Sean let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks British. And actually I think I'm going to catch some Zs. So, bye." The red head made a dash for the door and left before anyone could blink. Everyone stood still reminiscing the past three hours.
"Hell of night," Darwin commented. And everyone knew how true it was.
An hour later Charles, Erik, Moira, Agent Levene, and a large group of trained military forces got on a small black military plane. The plane was really small. There was of course the cockpit where all the flying equipment and scanners were accessible to the two pilots. There were twenty-two seats in the center part of the plane. It wasn't first class, it wasn't coach on an airline, but the seats had cushions on them. That had to count for something. And in the back of the plane was where all the stuff they were bringing; weapons, clothes, boxes of food. (CIA stuff.)
Charles, Erik, and Moira were some of the first people to get on the plane. The pilots came next followed by Levene and the trained forces. Then there was a problem. There were twenty trained forces, two agents, and two mutants sitting in the center part of the plane. A total of twenty-four people. There were only twenty-two seats.
Two of the trained forces were making a big fuss about how they would have to sit in the back with all of the supplies. "What's their problem?" Erik asked Moira.
"There isn't enough room for everyone on the plane. They'll have to sit in the back." The two military men continued to argue with Levene. Levene's eyes glanced over at Charles and Erik, then he left the plane. No more than two minutes later, Levene came back with Agent Stryker.
The white haired man marched up to Erik and Charles; the latter of the two was not paying attention. "Well, it seems to me that there are two perfectly fine seats right here being taken by some freaks." Erik clenched his jaw at Stryker's smug expression. There were many things that Erik wanted to say, but he decided he would not stoop to his level.
"We were here first."
"Well, we need all of these military ops and I would hate to have to call the director of the CIA and tell him that the mission has been cancelled because two non-humans wanted to be a pain." Erik's blood boiled; now all he wanted to do was smash Stryker's head in. Stryker turned to Moira. "This was your idea MacTaggert. And if you can't control them, then I will have no choice but to-"
"But to what? Tell her boss that the mission is cancelled? You have no right to tell any of us what to do!" Erik shouted, standing up. Moira, on any other given day would have loved to see someone call Stryker out on his irrational behavior. But right now, she knew, was the worst time to do so. She already was taking a chance by bringing the two mutants to Russia with her, and if Erik did anything, like I don't know, break Stryker's neck, then she would be fired and never be able to get a job in the government again. That's why when Erik got up, she did as well.
"Erik," she said firmly. He didn't look at her. Instead he continued to glare at Stryker. Moira had no idea how to restrain him; she silently wished that Dakota was there to be witty self and calm him down. Then again, she might have made things worse, then Charles would have to calm everyone down. He was good at that; she often wondered if that was his real power. Speaking of Charles, why wasn't he trying to help her?
Erik really wished glares could kill, because Stryker would be dead by now. He really wanted to finish and win this battle, but the grip on his arm was a sign that Moira was growing anxious. Besides this was his chance to finally get Shaw and he couldn't kill him if the mission was cancelled. He tore his arm from Moira and straightened his leather jacket. He never took his glare away from Stryker as he said, "Come on Charles. Apparently we are not good enough to sit on half broken chairs."
Charles, for the first time, looked up. "What?" he asked, confused. Stryker laughed; Erik turned to Charles, who flinched away from Erik's glare. Charles had been replaying the evening's events in his head and in turn shut everything else out so he could concentrate. He had absolutely no bloody idea what was going on.
Erik shook his head in anger at Charles' oblivion to what was happening. Stryker laughed harder, "How did you manage to become a professor, anyways?" Charles turned pink with embarrassment and opened his mouth to say something.
"Never mind," Erik snapped quickly. He walked by Stryker, shoving him with his shoulder in the process, and walked to the back of the plane. Charles got up and followed him.
"Why do we have to sit with the supplies?" Charles asked.
"I'll tell you later," Erik said through gritted teeth. Charles lowered his head; boy he was on a roll today. Erik wasn't so much mad at Charles, he was just irritated that Charles hadn't been paying attention so he could back him up. They found some crates in the back of the supplies to sit on. Erik sat down on the uncomfortable crate and crossed his arms. Charles sat down on one next to him. They were quiet until after the plane took off.
"I'm sorry for whatever it was that I did to upset you," Charles said. Erik chuckled and rolled his eyes; so much like him to apologies when he really didn't do anything.
"You didn't do anything. It was that Stryker guy." A minute passed. Erik scoffed, "You know we don't even need those military trained forces, or whoever the hell they are. You, me, Moira, and the pilots would have been enough." Erik went on a five minute rampage of talking. And Charles really tried to listen, but his mind wondered. "And the whole situation is just…" Erik noticed Charles' eyes staring down at the plane floor and figured he wasn't paying attention again. He cleared his throat.
Nothing.
"Hey, Charles?"
Nothing.
"Chaarrlles," he said in a sing songy voice.
Nothing.
Erik sighed. Then he turned to the younger man and said, "You know, I'm thinking about getting a cat, when this is all over with."
Charles' eyebrows knitted together, confused.
"Yeah, and I'll name him Mr. Fuzzy."
"What?" Charles asked, looking at him like he was crazy. Erik smiled.
"Welcome back."
"Please tell me that was a joke," Charles said, still giving him a funny look.
"Yes, it was a joke."
"Okay, good." Charles rubbed his temple, "You had me concerned for a moment." Erik smirked and hit him on the arm.
"What's with you?"
"What do you mean?" Charles asked, rubbing the spot where Erik had hit him.
Erik sighed, "I mean, you're having some trouble paying attention."
"I'm just thinking," he mumbled.
"Yeah, I can see that," Erik said, the annoyance returning to his voice. Charles ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his watch on his wrist.
"Look, I know. I should have let Dakota and the kids come. And I know I never should have lost my temper like that. There are no excuses for what I did." Charles had blurted the whole thing out so fast, that it threw Erik for a loop. He shook his head after a minute; the guy never ceased to amaze him. He was the only man he knew who would feel guilty after asserting his opinion.
It showed that Charles had a strong moral character. And that he could become easy prey to anyone who didn't have any moral character.
"You talked to her before we left," Charles said, bringing Erik back into reality. "What did she say? How was she?"
"Disappointed," Erik said before he could stop himself. Charles lowered his head again. Erik smacked his forehead.
'Great. I'm suppose to try and make him not feel any guiltier then he already is. So, what do I do? I tell him his girlfriend is disappointed in him. (Sigh).'
Erik shook his head again and had the sudden desire for a hard stiff drink.
'How was she? Her usual self after a while. She was witty. Sarcastic. Funny. Charming. Beautiful.'
Charles' head popped up.
'Oh hell. Was he just reading my mind?'
Charles didn't say anything the rest of the flight to Russia which made Erik assume that he had.
It was midday when the plane got to Russia. There was an old looking truck waiting for them. The military forces stuffed into the back of the truck, the two pilots stayed and guarded the plane, Moira and Levine got into the driver's seat and passenger's seat; both of them changed their clothes to look like they were poor Russian farmers. And Charles and Erik managed to find seats in the way back of the truck.
They hadn't talked since the very beginning of the flight. Erik began to worry a few hours ago that Charles now knew everything and that their friendship was now ruined. It was funny how it was that worry that prevented him from telling Dakota about his feelings. But at the moment he just wanted to make sure that he still had a brother. Friend. To make sure he still had a friend.
They drove for about a half hour when the truck suddenly stopped. The truck had broken down.
"Why don't we take a look around?" Erik asked getting up not waiting for Charles' reply. He opened the back door and stepped out onto the dirt road. Charles quickly followed him.
"Erik, I don't think that we should go site seeing at this present time." Erik didn't listen. He walked alongside the road heading the direction that they had been going. Charles mumbled a 'bloody hell' and was soon right next to Erik. "What if someone sees us?"
"You're a telepath." That was the only answer Erik gave. They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Erik turned to the left. Charles followed him into a small clearing that many types of grasses growing.
"Erik, we really should get back to the truck."
"It was obvious they don't know what they're doing. I am not going to sit in a crowded truck with a bunch of humans who do not like me when I could be out here talking with my friend. So," he walked into the field and motioned for Charles to follow. Charles contemplated for a moment and then followed him.
Thirty-four minutes later…
Charles and Erik were sitting down in the field talking. Just talking. Not about Dakota or Shaw or the future, just talking. Talking about the weather, which was sunny and beautiful. Talking about Agent Stryker. Talking about Charles' dream.
"I want the school to big. Big enough to have lots of children but not too big that I don't know where everyone is. That's why I decided that if I ever do decide to teach I will refurnish my house into a school. Can you imagine it Erik? A school for mutants, where they don't have to be afraid to show off their abilities."
Erik sat with one leg against his chest and the other one down. "How big is your house?"
"Well, it is quite big. I don't the diameters or anything like that." Charles sat cross-legged.
"Take a guess."
"Well, oh I don't know. It's not like a shoe or something that I can just move my hands apart," Charles moved his hands to be about a foot apart, "and say 'it's about this big.'"
Erik smirked at Charles demonstration. Suddenly the wind picked up and the sun went under some clouds. Both men looked up at the now cloudy sky. "It's kind of cold without the sun," Charles said. Erik nodded.
"Remind me to get my jacket and cap from the truck."
"Well, if you brought your jacket with you, like me," Charles first motioned to his jacket then to himself with some sort of pride. "Then you won't be so cold in your thin long sleeved shirt." Charles smiled and put on his jacket. Erik shook his head.
"Why do you have so many layers on?" he blurted out.
"What?"
"You have a long sleeved button down shirt on, over that you have a black sweater, and now you have on that black coat."
"I wanted to be warm. I knew it would be cold," Charles said defending his layers.
"How did you know it would be cold? Because last time I checked the weather cannot have its' mind read."
"Have you ever heard of a weather report?"
"And black. Why black? It's so unlike you. It's…well, dark and depressing."
"Don't be like Dakota and pick on my clothes."
Erik laughed, "She spends so much time picking on my clothes, I guess I never thought about her picking on your clothes. Does she?"
Charles blinked then started cracking up. He rubbed his forehead, "You have no idea." Erik smirked and chuckled.
Moira came running up to them. "There you are! I didn't know where you two went." They both got up. "The truck is fixed, we can keep going." Charles and Erik shared a glance then followed Moira back to the truck.
Erik got on his brown leather jacket and his navy blue cap. The truck continued down the road. Most of the military forces were asleep from sheer utter boredom. "See? Aren't you glad that we went into that field instead of sitting in here?"
"Alright, alright. You were right." They sat down in their spots in the back. Erik was relieved that they still were friends, he had been so worried that he had ruined it because of the slip of a thought. He had told Charles that he could get an ulcer from worrying, when really he should have warned himself.
"Erik?"
"Huh?"
"Thanks for listening to me ramble."
Erik smirked, "The pleasure was all my mine."
Charles grinned and then added, "And please don't pick on my clothes again." Erik saw an opportunity.
"Would Dakota approve or disapprove of the fingerless gloves?" Erik pointed to the gloves that Charles wore.
"Oh, shut up!"
Erik laughed.
The truck was literary ten minutes away from the Russian military retreat where Shaw was supposed to be. Charles and Erik sat waiting for the truck to get there when they heard a knocking on the panel behind them. They both turned and raised it so they could see Levene and Moira.
"We got a problem," Levene said.
"What?"
"I'm so sorry. This wasn't on the map," Moira said. Charles looked out the little window and saw that the truck was heading towards a roadblock that was crawling with guards. Levene pressed the brake slowing down the truck.
"No matter what happens, act normally," Charles said, officially taking charge. "I'll take care of this, all right?" He lowered the panel back over the window. He addressed the military ops, "Now listen to me, they will open those doors in a few moments, and when they do, do not shoot anyone." Erik had no idea what Charles planned on doing but he hoped that he knew what he was doing.
They all heard the truck door slam shut. The ops turned their guns to the doors. "Easy, easy. Take it easy, chaps." Charles stood up and held two fingers to his temple. Erik could sense the metal guns outside of the truck. He prepared himself for a fight. The doors swung open. There stood Levene and a young Russian guard. Levene looked confused and the guard looked bored.
Someone asked in Russian, "Anything back there?"
The guard answered, "Nothing. It's empty." Erik breathed a sigh of amazement. Charles kept his fingers on his temple as Levene asked if they could go. The guard said they could as they both shut the doors. Charles sighed and sat back down.
Erik still amazed, patted Charles' leg. His way of saying 'good job'.
Levene, Charles, Moira and Erik all laid on their stomachs, looking through binoculars at the retreat. Then they all saw a helicopter. They assumed that Shaw was on it. They watched it land; Emma Frost got off, alone. The guards let her through the barricade. Erik put down the binoculars.
"Where's Shaw?" he asked; the revenge filled man coming through.
"I don't know," Charles said. Erik turned to him, trying not to glare at him. Charles bit his lip thinking. "But if she's a telepath and I read her, she'll know we're here." Charles let out a breath and put two fingers to his temple again. "Let me try something else." He closed his eyes in concentration. Erik and Moira went back to looking through the binoculars. They watched as one of the guards stationed at the door watched Frost and the Russian general go inside the retreat.
Charles shook his head, "He's not coming." He dropped his hand from his head and the guard snapped back to his place. "So, what now, boss?" he asked Moira.
"Now, nothing. We're here for Shaw. Mission aborted."
"The hell it is," Erik said starting to get up.
Moira, who was the closest to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "Erik," she said in a stern voice.
"She's his right-hand woman," he pointed to the retreat where Frost currently was. "That's good enough for me."
Moira officially told herself she was surrounded be crazy people. "The CIA invading the home of a senior Soviet official. Are you crazy?"
He smirked, "I'm not CIA." He tore his hat off and threw it to Charles. "Hold that for me." Then he got up and started running.
"Erik!" Charles tried to grab him over Moira but he couldn't reach him. All he was left with was Erik's cap. He swore under his breath.
Charles, Moira and Levene watched through the binoculars as the barbed wire around the barricade come to life and attack the four soldiers who stood watch. The two guards who watch the retreats entrees saw this to and went to investigate. Erik ran through the barricade, motioning for the gate to open. The guards saw him and raised their weapons. Erik threw out his hands and pulled their weapons towards him. They were both surprised and were dragged to the ground. One was knocked out from hitting the ground. The other one started to get up as Erik ran by. He kneed him in the face. The guard grunted and fell to the ground. Erik then slowed to a brisk pace to catch his breath, as he walked inside the retreat.
"He's gonna to start World War III single-handed," Levene spat.
"We have to do something," Moira said, desperation starting in her voice.
"Like what? We're moving out," Levene called to the ops behind them.
"You can't!" Charles exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? Watch me." Levene got up and started getting the troop together. Charles' mind was racing. He grabbed Moira's arm, she looked at him.
"I'm sorry. I can't leave him." He grabbed Erik's cap and ran the way Erik had gone not two minutes ago. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing what so ever. All he knew was he had to help Erik.
He ran by the barricade and saw the young soldiers panting and crying for help. He should keep running. He should catch up with Erik. But these boys…He stopped running and went back to the guards. One had the barbed wire wrapped around his whole body; it was cutting him every time he moved. Which was a lot considering he was scared out of his mind.
"For God's sake, Erik," he mumbled looking at these poor frightened men. He knelt down to them. "Uh, be calm." Then he said it in Russian, "Be calm. Forget my face." The men calmed down and then fell asleep. That was all he could do. He continued running.
Everywhere he went inside the retreat there were knocked out soldiers and their guns were ripped apart. "Erik?" he whispered. 'Erik?'
'Charles? Look, I know what you're going to say, but I'm getting Frost and that's that.'
'Fine. But where are you?'
'In the retreat.'
'No! I meant where are you in the retreat?'
'Why does that matter?'
'Because I'm in here too, and I'll help you, but I can't do that if I don't know where you are.'
'…'
'Erik?'
'You get out of here right now! It's dangerous!'
'You don't think I know that?'
'Leave Charles. I can handle this myself.'
'Erik, please, don't tell me what to d-'
Charles suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and was pushed to the floor. He had been concentrating so hard on trying to figure out where Erik was that he hadn't realized that a guard had come up behind him. He had hit Charles in the back of his neck with his pistol and pushed him to the floor.
Charles' head was spinning. He groaned. 'Charles? Are you there? What happened? Charles?'
'Erik, I could really use some assistance here.'
'What is it?'
'Um, I…' The guard grabbed Charles by the collar of his jacket and pinned him against a wall. He started yelling at him in Russian. Charles only knew a handful of Russian words, so he caught words like 'who' and 'trespassing' and 'death' and 'intruder'.
"Now, let's talk about this," Charles said nervously. Suddenly the guard was thrown off of him and hit a wall. His gun disassembled its self. Erik stood about five feet away and had his arm pointing to where the guard had fallen. Charles breathed a sigh of relief, Erik had saved him.
Erik ran over to Charles, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he answered rubbing his aching neck. "He just hit me in the back of the neck. Nothing too serious."
Erik's worried expression faded, "Good. Now…" Erik shoved him against the wall.
"Um, ow."
"What were you thinking? Coming in here. You could've gotten yourself killed!"
"Well, I didn't killed, did I?"
"Only because I was here."
Charles took a deep breath and let it come out slowly. "Let's just go and find Miss Frost. She's not far away."
Erik glared at him. "You just want me to focus on something else so I won't continue yelling at you."
"Well, yeah." Erik sighed and rubbed his forehead. "But if we don't go now, the guards could inform the general that two men broke into his retreat and are taking down his men. Then we both will be in danger of an army of reinforcements."
"…I hate it when you make since."
Charles smiled and shyly said, "I brought your hat." He held it out to Erik who yanked it out of Charles' grip. The two continued to go the way that Erik had come from. They turned down a corridor and down another one to their right. "Quite a beautiful place, actually," Charles said looking around at all the decorations on the walls and ceilings. Erik didn't look; he was determined to find Frost. He just hoped she knew where Shaw was, because of present time they had no other leads.
"By the way, how did you find me?" Charles asked as they briskly ran down the hall.
"I started back the direction I came when I first heard you. When I couldn't hear you any more, I ran. Are they nearby?"
"Um, yes. Turn here," Charles ran to the right and Erik followed. There were a set of doors up ahead; they burst through them.
Emma jumped at the sudden sound of the doors opening forcefully. Two men had ran through the doors. She recognized the two as being Erik Lensherr, the man who attempted to kill Shaw over a month ago, and Charles Xavier, the telepath who she had never met but sensed him many times. They both looked from her to the general, who was sitting on his bed, kissing and holding air.
(She was good at seduction, but she rarely ever actually went all the way with those she seduced. And she would have to if she wasn't a telepath.) Charles and Erik both glanced at each other, as they caught their breath from running.
"Nice trick," Charles told Emma. She looked between the two and from what she could read, they were here for her. Her concentration on the general slipped as she silently read the two men's minds. The general, now out of his trance, saw Charles and Erik. Emma smiled at him. He said a few things in Russian and pulled out a gun.
"Go to sleep," Charles raised his hand. The general's head fell back and then he was in a deep sleep. Emma stood up and transformed her skin into its diamond form. Charles held two fingers to his head and tried to break down her barriers. She chuckled.
"You can stop trying to read my mind, sugar." She went inside his mind easily and concentrated. Charles grimaced in slight pain. He had stronger barriers then she thought. "You're never going to get anything from me when I'm like this." Charles' hand dropped away from his head. Erik moved slightly towards her. Emma knew that there was no way out, but she was going to try.
She ran to the table in the middle of the bedroom and tried to climb over it and continue running. However, both men easily grabbed her from the table and drug her back away from the door. They threw her against the metal bed frame. Her hands were suddenly restrained by the bars of the bed frame.
"So, then, you can just tell us," Erik said. "Where's Shaw?" The bed frame moved again to insure she couldn't move. She glared him, then tried to free herself from the bed. Erik's patience was growing thin.
A metal bar was wrapped around her neck. She gasped; she could barely breathe. "Erik," a wide eyed Charles mumbled. Had she not been being choked to death, she would have found Charles' frightened expression amusing.
She didn't say a word. Erik's grip on the bar around her neck tighten. "Erik that's enough," Charles said, watching Emma's pained expression. Erik shook his head, that no it wasn't enough. The bar grew so tight that she officially couldn't breathe. The diamond skin around her neck was starting to crack and it would only be a short while before the bar broke her neck.
"Erik that's enough!" Charles yelled, growing anxious that he would see his friend kill someone right in front of him. Erik, whose eyes were those of a mad man's, blinked and then slightly nodded. The metal bar was released.
Emma took a deep breath and her diamond skin disappeared. She had begun to feel light headed, from the lack of oxygen, which is why most of her mental barriers were down. After catching her breath she looked up to glare at Erik. So did Charles.
"All yours," Erik said, motioning to Emma. He causally walked over to table on the right side of the room. He grabbed a glass and started making himself a drink. "She won't be shifting into diamond form again. And if she does, just give her a gentle tap."
Charles keeled down in front of her and held his hand to his head. She smiled smugly; Erik sat down in one of the fancy chairs around the table. He took a sip of his drink and watched Charles read Emma. His eyes moved quickly and then they widened. He left his hand drop.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Emma asked. Charles gave her a leveled glance and then turned to Erik.
"This is worse than we previously imagined." He addressed Emma, "We're taking you with us. The CIA will want to question you themselves."
"Oh, I doubt it. They have bigger things to worry about right now." Both men looked confused. "You know, if you really wanted to protect them," Emma tried to adjust herself so she was more comfortable. "You shouldn't have left them and painted a big red target on their backs."
"What are you talking about?" Erik asked.
"Your recruits."
Erik's heart skipped a beat; Charles' eyes grew wide.
"I hope that those inexperienced kids will enjoy meeting Shaw. He seemed to be looking forward to meeting them."
Darwin and Alex continued their pinball machine 'tournament'. It was Alex's turn and he was beating Darwin's old score; at this rate he would beat him by a landslide. "Jesus, man, you are killing me!"
"Don't beat yourself up. I've had a lot of spare time."
Raven and Angel sat next to each other on one of the couches; Hank, Dakota and Sean sat across from them on the other couch. The rec room was put back together; the agent had ordered a new window and it had been put in that morning. It had been officially been one day since the crazy party had happened. And though she was good at hiding it, Dakota was still sulking.
"Hey, British, keep this up and we'll have to throw you out of our club."
"What club?" Dakota asked looking at the red haired teen to her right.
"The, um…well, it doesn't have a name yet." Dakota rolled her eyes. "But it's the club. The club with all of us young mutant kids."
"I'm not that young."
"How old are you?" Hank asked, from her left.
"I'm twenty-five."
"Give or take," Raven added, smiling.
"Thank you, sister dear heart, give or take."
"Give or take? Why, don't you know?" Sean asked, innocently enough.
"Of course I know! I just…well, a true lady never tells her age."
"Fortunately, you're not a lady," Angel said, picking up her drink. Everyone gawked at her and Dakota just glared at her.
"Speak for yourself, dancing girl." It was Angel's turn to glare at Dakota.
"I have a question for you," she said.
Dakota raised her eyebrows, "Oh, you do, do you? What is it?"
"What's with the hat?" She eyed Dakota's hat. (Dakota had put her hair into a bun and was wearing a blue knit hat. It matched her blue blouse.)
"Don't like it?" she asked, adjusting it on her head.
"It's just not what we're used to seeing you in. And it's just something, that I don't personally like," Sean said. He put his foot up on the coffee table. Dakota turned to him.
"And what if Moira wore a hat like that and she asked you what you thought?"
"Okay, why is Moira asking Sean for clothing advice?" Raven asked.
"This is theoretical. Shush!"
"You're saying that he would say he liked the hat if Moira wore it because he likes her?" Hank asked, putting the pieces together. Dakota smiled and put an arm around Hank's shoulder.
"This is why he is the smart one."
"I would not say I liked the hat only if Moira wa-"
"Oh, yes you would, Red!"
"No, I wouldn't. I don't have to take this abuse." He crossed his arms and turned away from Dakota. She smirked.
Two agents walked through the courtyard and right by their window. One of them stopped walking. "Oh, I didn't know the circus was in town." Everyone turned to the window. "Hey, come on, honey," he pointed to Angel. "Give us a little…" he flapped his hands around like he had wings.
She just blinked and shook her head. "No? Come on, let's see the foot." He looked to Hank, "Come on Big Foot let's go." Hank's eyes dropped to his feet. "No, again? Come on! How about you speedy girl? Show us your power." Dakota bit the inside of her mouth and pinched the bridge of her nose. She then placed her hands on her knees and gave the smug agent her best fake smile.
"You want to see what I can do?" she asked in mock surprise, like no one ever wanted to see what her ability was. The smug agent nodded; the other one just glared at his partner. "Well…"
Suddenly she was a blur and was no longer sitting in between Hank and Sean. "Whoa! Where did she go?" She was behind him. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Then she socked him one in the jaw.
"Oh!" Sean exclaimed. Raven slightly smiled. Hank stared at the agent who fell against the window, rubbing his jaw. Dakota gave the smug agent a leveled glare and walked away.
He gave a dirty look to Dakota. "What's the hell your problem?!" Dakota strolled away, as if nothing happened, and went back into the building. The not so smug agent glared at the mutants, then he and his partner left. As they left he mumbled, "Bunch of freaks."
Dakota walked into the rec room, rubbing her hand. "Sometimes I surprise myself. Who knew that jerk's face was so hard." She walked behind the wet bar and grabbed so ice.
"You shouldn't have done that," Hank said.
"Oh, yes I did." She had a few ice cubs wrapped in a piece of cloth and used that as a make shift icepack. She walked to one of the tables and leaned against it, while icing her fist. Angel still seemed perturbed about the two agents.
"They were just guys being stupid," Raven reassured.
"Guys being stupid, I can handle. Okay? I've handled that my whole life." Angel had a new spark in her eye; a spark filled with anger, resentment, and rebellion. "But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off than the way these ones stare at me."
Raven paused. "At us." Angel turned her head. She felt like she had found people who understood what she was going through, but it wasn't in her nature to open up and tell her whole life story to just anybody who understood. Not even to Raven, and she very well could be her best friend. But maybe to Darwin; she had told him a lot about her life, though she avoided the majority of her stripping career.
There was a loud thud, as if something fell on one of the buildings' roof. Angel and Raven looked up, Hank and Sean sat up straight trying to hear, Dakota suddenly had a blinding headache and stabled herself by grabbing hold onto the table, Alex wasn't paying attention, and Darwin's head snapped up with attention. "What was that?" he asked no one in particular. Darwin craned his head to try to hear. "I don't know," he answered his own question. "Something doesn't feel right." He left Alex, who scored one more point and then followed him. The four on the couches got up and went to the window, with the view of the courtyard. Alex and Darwin were soon there as well and they all tried to listen.
Dakota cradled her reeling head. 'Where the bloody hell did this headache come from?' Just when she thought the pain couldn't get any worse she felt a stabbing pain in her head. She fell into one of the chairs. She laid her head on the table and tried to think calm thoughts so maybe she could heal whatever the heck was wrong with her. Instead she got a series of visions.
'The powerful quirky young mutant. She has such power. Think about what it would be like if she joined us.'
'Your recruits. I hope that those inexperienced kids will enjoy meeting Shaw…'
'Riptide, you destroy that installation that Emma mentioned. I will go in and track down the mutants myself. Oh, and Azazel? Kill every human you find.'
Dakota raised her head, the pain was gone and her mind was now clear. She took a few breaths and she knew exactly what was going to happen. "Son of a bitch." She jumped from the chair and ran over to the group of young mutants still huddled by the window. She leaned in close to the window herself and looked up. There was something, very small blocking out some of the moonlight.
"What is that?" Darwin whispered.
Dakota knew. "Oh, God."
A second later the agent was dropped by the teleporter and fell to his death. He landed right in front of the rec room window. Everyone jumped and took a few steps back. Angel and Raven screamed then covered their mouths. Then three more men were dropped; then three more; then five more. Everyone in room gasped and backed farther away from the window. Except Dakota; she was still trying to see what was happening.
"What the hell is going on?" Alex yelled.
"Azazel," Dakota mumbled.
"What?"
"Azazel! He's a mutant who works for Shaw. He's coming here now." She turned towards the frightened mutants. "We have to get out of here NOW." A bunch agents ran into the courtyard with automatic guns. One of them banged on the window.
"Get back! Get back! Do not leave that room. We're under attack!" Dakota would have rolled her eyes and gave him a 'no freaking kidding' look, had the circumstances been different. Azazel appeared out a nowhere in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone in the rec room yelled for the agents to turn around and shoot. He turned and did just that. "Shoot! Shoot!" he yelled and bullets went flying towards Azazel, who easily disappeared.
Everyone ran and jumped behind the couch. Dakota ran over and tripped over Sean. Darwin was the only one standing up because he was trying to insure that none of them would be shot. Azazel teleported in front of one of the agents and turned his gun so he shot directly at the mutants. Everyone ducked and got closer to the floor. Then they all started when they heard something behind them. They looked out the opposite window and saw that a giant tornado was heading towards Cerebro. It completely engulfed it.
Dakota pulled on Darwin's arm; he knelt down. "Get them out of here. I'll take care of the teleporter." Darwin went to protest but Dakota held up a finger. "No arguing. Just go."
She stood up; Raven went to grab her. "What are you doing?" she yelled over the gunfire.
"Doing what I do best." She took off her knit hat and took her hair out of its bun. She shook her head, messing up her hair in the process. She threw her hair out of her face and said, "Now go!" Then she was a blur.
Okay that's done. So tell me what you think and all that jazz. I'll start Chapter 8 when I get a chance. But I have a request for all of my readers, reviewers, and followers:
What should the name be for Chapter 8? I have four possible choices; they are:
'A Weakness'
'Hostage Situation'
'Shaw's Price' and
"Join Me".
I want feedback people, so which of these titles do you want? Hope to hear from you soon. Bye. ;)
