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Alex walked back into the living room. Nobody acknowledged her presence. They were into their own things and she was fine with that. At the moment, all she wanted to do was think without being bothered.

She was thoroughly confused with Victor's behaviour. He must be bipolar or something. First, he's nice. Then, he's rude. Next, he kisses me and pushes me away. She rubbed her eyes and groaned as Victor entered the room looking apologetic. She scoffed. There was no way she would be talking to him at the moment. Huffing, Alex stood up and moved to the opposite end of the room. She realized how stupid that effort was as he could easily cross a greater distance. Alex exhaled happily when Victor was stopped by his brother.

Isa walked into the room. Alex was instantly concerning when she saw her red rimmed eyes. Alex stood up and Isa ran into her arms seeking comfort in a hug. Isa sobbed into her friend's shirt and Alex awkwardly patted her back. Isa sniffled loudly earning herself the attention of each individual in the room. Alex glared at everyone and guided Isa out the door. She took Isa to her room and sat down on the bed without breaking the hug.

Eventually the tears subsided to a point where Isa could speak coherently. "Alex, I'm in trouble." Alex gestured for her to continue and she did. "I think I'm pregnant." Isa then fell back on the bed while fresh tears slide down her face.

Alex couldn't bring herself to say anything and she doubted anything she did say would help the matter much. Isa continued though the crying was breaking up her speech. "Stryker is going to want to kill it. What am I going to do? And I'm so sorry I did this to you Alex."

Alex raised her eyebrows questionably. Isa explained, "this is a great opportunity for you. You get to fill your bloodlust and it's legal. Not to mention you get paid. After this, Stryker's gonna kick us off for sure." Again, Isa broke down in sobs.

Her friend gulped and talked slowly. "Are you going to keep it?"

Isa shrugged weakly and continued weeping. Alex stayed until Isa fell asleep and gently placed her underneath her covers. She placed a gentle kiss on Isa's forehead and left quietly.

She walked back to the living room in a sort of trancelike state. She curled into the fetal position of the couch and watched Chris and Fred play Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo. The sounds and moments started to bug her so she closed her eyes to rid herself of the splitting headache. Not a minute later, she was dreaming of a different land.

Alex awoke to a nervous Sydney shaking her arm. She was biting her lip anxiously but smiled big when she saw Alex's eyes flutter open. Alex stretched her arms and legs. The room was unoccupied except for the two and all that was seen through the windows was darkness.

"Alex, sorry to wake you but Stryker wants to see you." Alex nodded. She probably was going to get another lecture but Alex also needed to talk to him about Sydney's tests. She shrugged off the blanket somebody had placed on her. It smelt like Victor so she assumed it was him. He had to be bipolar.

She was still half asleep so she followed Sydney in a daze. The floor turned cold beneath her bare feet when they entered another room made of metal yet again. The room was buzzing with people who were dressed as doctors. They seemed to be preparing for Syd's test. A chair was placed in the middle of the room. On the table next to it, there was an assortment of utensils such as needles and other sharp things.

Sydney smiled sadly and sat in the chair. The doctors around didn't say a word to her but jabbed needles into her arms hooking her into machines. Alex was outraged. This would not happen as long as she had something to say about it. She stalked over to the chair and began to pull a needle out of Sydney. An arm reached out and stopped her. Growling, she looked up to meet Stryker's eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." His calm voice only aggravated her more.

"Well, it's a good thing you aren't me, huh?" She snatched her arm back. "What the hell are you doing to Sydney?"

Stryker turned back to his subject and double checked all the needles. "These tests are necessary. Without them, we wouldn't know the full extent of her power. She could be a danger to all of us."

"She controls gravity. How the hell could that hurt us?"

He walked around checking notes and Alex followed him. "She could turn off gravity control. Gravity holds oxygen to the Earth. Without oxygen, we die. It's simple enough, don't you think?"

Alex resisted the urge to claw his eyes out. "I'm not an idiot! Sydney would never do anything to hurt anyone. She is the kindest person. Yeah, she likes to shitfaced and party a lot but that's not a danger to anyone but herself."

He looked down at her and Alex cursed her small stature. He face was passive but his eyes were laughing. "It's good to see you care." He pulled her to the side and nodded at one of the doctors. "all systems go."

Sydney screamed and wriggles in the seat. Alex made a move to help her but was stopped by Stryker. She pushed and struggled but he smacked her against the wall. He held up a needle. "This serum was collected from another mutant. It stabilizes people into a very cooperative state."

She looked back and forth between the needle and Stryker astounded. "That's brain control." He nodded. Sydney screamed again and Alex closed her eyes trying to block it out. "You're more dangerous than Sydney could ever be."

Stryker blinked and stepped back. "Well, knowledge is power. I want to know as much as I can about mutants so that I'll be able to protect America when one of you decides to do something stupid. But, it's all thanks to you that we got Sydney. York wanted her because he thought it would be particularly useful if he could harness her ability to his advantage. He wouldn't have succeeded because he doesn't have the knowledge that I spent years retrieving. So, I thank you for handing me the next piece of the puzzle."

Alex stayed silent. It was true. Sydney would have been fine after the SAF released her. But Alex sent her straight to Stryker. She blinked back tears that were threatening to form and cursed herself for her stupidity. Stryker moved over to the doctors and overlooked the experiment. He turned some knobs and flipped some switches while Alex stared.

He finally said something but didn't look at her. But his words turned her cold. "You can leave the team. We don't need you here and your actions on your first mission have assured us that this is not the place for you."

She continued to stare while his words sunk in. She was being kicked off. "Sir?" He turned. "Are you kicking me off?"

He nodded. "That's right. You have an hour to leave the premises."

Alex took one last look at Sydney and left the room.

A/N: what's gonna happen now? Tell me what you think!