"Havok, lookout!"
Alex ducked and rolled, just in time to avoid a fireball from Angel. He wished that he'd managed to get a cleaner shot at her wings when they were on Cuba. Although he'd never discussed his feelings with the Professor, he wished that he'd sliced them clean off. She wouldn't be such a threat if he'd managed to take off her wings.
He knelt down and sent a blast towards her. She swung as wide of it as possible. Alex knew that she hadn't forgotten about their encounter on Cuba either. It had been three years since then, but no one forgot things like that.
When Angel dodged Sean rammed right into her. The Brotherhood wasn't the only one with aerial support. Alex hadn't seen Erik yet though, and it was something of a relief. He began to doubt that he was there. Hank was still inside the compound, trying to get the data that the CIA had collected and the names of the scientists on their payroll before the Brotherhood did.
It wasn't a particularly good situation, the idea that the CIA was researching mutants. The types of research didn't sound very good either. The FBI might have been a better source to investigate them, but for some reason it was still considered a CIA operation. The Professor had found out about the research, and they'd been sent.
The Brotherhood had found out about it too though. They'd also taken offense at the idea. However, that information would be best used in the X-men's hands. The X-men would destroy the CIA's data and the Professor would have a quiet word with some of the scientists. He had no clue what the Brotherhood would do.
Alex looked at his watch and swore. What was taking Hank so long? He should have been out five minutes ago. Alex knew that he could have encountered complications, but they needed to get in and out before the CIA's cavalry showed up. He'd seen Azazel go in after Hank, but he knew that he couldn't have beaten Hank to the information.
Although the Professor didn't know it, they'd gotten some directions from Moira on the way to the field. He'd felt bad about asking her for yet another favor, or he would have if they'd been given a chance. She'd been about to call them, trying to tell them about the information. When she found out they were already going after it, she'd given them a few helpful hints. She never ceased to amaze him.
He dodged a fireball and rolled on the ground. Alex knew that it was wrong to get so distracted, but he couldn't help but wonder how stupid the Professor had been feeling the day that he'd let Moira go. He wondered if, maybe, it was time to bring her up to the Professor. Perhaps it wasn't his place to play matchmaker, and both parties might not want to even see the other, but still.
A fist came out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground. Alex caught himself at the last minute and pushed himself up. He looked behind him and saw Raven. For a minute he gawked. What was she doing in the line of combat. He hadn't dealt with her in hand-to-hand combat before, a thought that leant him little comfort as a spiked foot sailed over his head.
The attack came fast and furious. When had this happened? When had she become some sort of death machine? Alex struggled to catch up with her motions. He hadn't fought anyone on this sort of level. Confusion still entered his mind, thinking of the blonde girl he'd trained with back at the school. Raven hadn't been very good at hand-to-hand then. As she punched him in the stomach, almost knocking the wind out of him, Alex decided it was time to reassess. She'd obviously had some time to brush up.
The blows rained down on him. Alex began looking for ways to take her down. She had a tougher hide, but she was obviously still vulnerable to getting cut or knocked out. He'd have to figure out a way to slam her up against something.
He managed to catch her next fist and hit her as hard as he could in her jaw. Her foot came up, this time slicing into his cheek. Alex moved backwards and let his chest plate light up. He could graze her, maybe burn her legs and arms a little and get her to stop. Raven ducked and knocked his legs out from under him.
His bolt fired into the air. Alex watched in horror as it went straight up, almost hitting Sean. His friend managed to move back at the last moment. If he hadn't moved slightly to the left, then his face could have been burned off.
Alex looked back at Raven, still feeling shock trembling through him. He saw that she looked disappointed and frustrated. He suddenly realized that she had done that on purpose. She had deliberately attempted to kill Sean.
Red flashed behind his eyes.
"Sonuvabitch!" he yelled.
He rushed forward and tackled Raven. He saw her golden eyes glaring up at him with indignation and surprise. He punched her across the jaw before she managed to kick him off. His eyes narrowed at her, watching her movements carefully.
A flurry of feet and fists came at him. He put up his arms, but most of her blows came through. Alex couldn't dodge them, and they sent him to his knees. The image of Sean nearly meeting a terrible, firey death, still danced behind his eyes.
It was time for him to do something, or he was going to get beaten to death. One of her arms shot out and he caught it in an arm lock, twisting it behind her back. Raven pulled back, but his grip was made stronger by his anger. She tried to get out of it by rolling, but Alex kicked her feet out from under her. He applied more pressure onto her arm and heard something snap.
She gasped. He couldn't tell if he'd dislocated her arm or broken it, but either way he felt a keen sense of satisfaction.
"How's it feel to be the one in pain Mystique?" he snarled.
The words left his lips before he could stop them. Mystique. She hissed and punched upwards, her spikes slicing at his face again. Alex refused to let go though. He applied more pressure and twisted her arm a little more.
She cried out this time. Alex wondered if he could ruin her arm entirely. He'd regretted not crippling Angel when he had the chance. Why not take the chance now? It wouldn't be like he was killing her: he'd just make sure that she could never try to kill his teammates again.
Her eyes met his. Alex suddenly remembered the girl with blonde hair again, sticking up for Hank and turning into Sean. He paused then, trying to somehow correlate these two pictures in his mind. Could she really have changed that much?
Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw movement. He let go of Mystique's arm and dropped to the floor as Azazel's sword sliced through the air. It would've cut the artery above his neck if he hadn't moved, but as it was it just gave him a shallow cut across his back, ripping the fabric.
He turned around and sent off a blast. Azazel teleported away with Mystique.
"Havok!" Hank yelled, grabbing his shoulder, "We have to get out of here!"
For a minute Alex stared after Mystique and Azazel. He could've crippled her. He could have stopped her. The moment had passed, and Alex cursed himself for his weakness. He glared in their direction before running after Hank. His thoughts churned angrily in his head.
"Is that deep?" Hank asked.
"No," Alex said, his voice short, "You got the disk?"
"Yes but-"
"We can tend to it when we get to the Institute. Just fly us, okay?" Alex snapped.
Hank raised his eyebrows as he got into the cockpit.
"Sean, start blotting the blood," Hank said.
Alex didn't look to the left or the right as Sean began to stop the bleeding. The plane took off and he looked out the window. His thoughts were starting to get a little less chaotic. He didn't think of himself as a good thinker, but it didn't take him long to come to a conclusion.
It was obvious that Mystique didn't see him as Alex anymore, only an enemy. If she saw him with a name at all, it was Havok. He wasn't the former convict that Erik and the Professor had picked up. It was time to return the favor and see her as Mystique.
"I said we're back," Sean said.
Alex snapped back to the present. He got up and Sean ushered him into the medical bay. He peeled off his uniform and threw it in the secret laundry pile in the closet for their uniforms. His undershirt was torn, but the pants he wore beneath the uniform were fine.
Hank and Sean did the same. Alex wore jeans underneath his uniform, but Sean preferred sweatpants and Hank preferred pants made out of his own fabric design. He was testing them to see if they'd work better under the uniforms.
Without any warning Hank poured alcohol on Alex's wound. Alex hissed between his teeth.
"Dammit Hank!" Alex said.
"It was always going to sting Alex," Hank said, his voice level.
"Well at least give me some sort of warning," Alex said, "It hurts like a bitch."
"Stop being such a sissy," Sean said.
Alex narrowed his eyes.
"Do you wanna switch places?" he said.
"No need to get pissed," Sean muttered.
"Alex?"
Alex whipped around. Scott was standing in the doorway, his mouth open. Alex wished that he could disappear or, better yet, go back and think to close the door or lock it. He managed to give his brother a wane smile.
"Whatcha doin down here?" he asked.
"I was...I couldn't find you so I went to ask Hank...I had trouble with some of my math homework," Scott stammered, "What happened to your back?"
Still smiling, Alex wildly invented.
"I fell down the stairs," he said.
"What?" Scott said.
"On the way to the garage," he said, "I was busy-"
"You were calling me names and couldn't be bothered to look where you were going," Sean said.
Alex pretended to be annoyed, but he hoped Sean could see the gratitude in his eyes. He'd jumped in pretty fast, and was lending legitimacy to his story.
"Are you okay?" Scott said.
His brother looked a little pale. Alex wondered what he was looking at, but then he realized that the cloth that Sean had used to blot the blood was still lying next to him. He let his eyes over to the bloodied cloth and shrugged.
"Stay still," Hank hissed.
Alex rolled his eyes.
"Scotty boy, it looks a lot worse than it actually is," he said, "It doesn't even need stitches. Right Hank?"
"Right," Hank agreed.
His brother didn't look convinced.
"I mean it," Alex said.
"Um, okay," Scott said.
Scott still didn't look like he quite believed him. His eyes trailed from his back to his face. Alex remembered Mystique's spiky skin cutting into his face.
"I kinda scraped my face up too," Alex said.
"Scott, your brother fell flat on his face," Sean said, "Woulda been funny if he hadn't been crying like a sissy."
"I didn't cry!" Alex said.
He had the feeling that Sean was enjoying his role a little too much. Alex felt Hank finish bandaging up his back. Hank moved to Alex's face with a bottle of alcohol. He winced as he thought of that touching the cuts on his face.
"I'll be up in a bit," Alex said, "Just need to finish up down here."
"Okay," Scott said, "Okay."
His brother gave Alex a strange look before hurrying up the stairs. Sean shut the door behind him.
"Smart kid," Hank said, "I don't think he believed you entirely."
"It's not like he's going to come to the truth on his own. He'll accept the stair story," Alex said, irritated, "And Sean, thanks for the help, but go a little easy next time."
"No promises," Sean grinned.