Ah. On to Chapter 10. Alas!

Act 3, Chapter 2 (10)- Family Reunion

"You did fine work," Commander Bishop said to Pietro Maximoff in the SHIELD hangar, as the other members of Pietro's team began to exit the chopper, along with Wanda and Pyro (who had been deprived of his flamethrowers). Pietro and the commander were several yards away- Bishop had taken him aside to discuss the mission. "The castle Lucas is hiding in belongs to the Black Tom Cassidy. He's a big crime lord, but he's not our problem unless he tries to protect Lucas."

"It's a shame we weren't able to bring him in ourselves," Pietro sighed. Though he had promised to Lucas that the castle's location wouldn't be reported, Pietro felt no guilt in doing so. He was Pietro, after all. He'd feel even less if he knew Lucas didn't quite plan to uphold his end of the bargain.

"You leave that to us. You and your team have done your part," Bishop said. "We're going to see what we can learn from the captives you did bring in."

"Uh, about that... they sort of helped us out back there. They came willingly. I mean, that should count for something, right?"

"You leave that to us," Bishop repeated. "You and your team will be escorted out and given your payment. On behalf of SHIELD and the US Government, I thank you." Bishop saluted and Pietro weakly returned it. He turned back to the group, who stood by the chopper quietly. Wanda was several feet away from them. Throughout the ride back, she hadn't spoken a single word to anyone but Pietro, or even so much as made eye contact.

"...We're free to go," Pietro told his team, faking a smile. "Uh, except for you, Pyro. They want to ask you a few questions. And... uh... you too, Wanda."

"I'm not answering anything," Wanda asserted. "The only reason I came along was to see Magneto."

"I know you don't trust these guys... neither do I," Pietro assured her. "But the sooner we get through this, the better. Let's just try to avoid getting into a messy situation, okay."

Wanda groaned and nodded. She and Pyro were led to Bishop, and while he spoke with his new guests, Pietro remained with his team.

"So... they ain't gonna lock her up or anythin', right?" Toad asked.

"No. They can't. Right? Nah, they wouldn't." Silent, the group watched to see where Wanda would be taken. However, SHIELD guards had already arrived to escort them out. The group began to walk, but Pietro kept his head turned towards Wanda, and noticed that Toad did as well.

"Hey, what's...?" Toad didn't have to finish. Bishop was walking away as four SHIELD agents seized Wanda and Pyro. Wanda's hands were bound behind her. Two seconds later, the links on her handcuffs evaporated, and she threw her hands at the guards, blasting them across the hangar. Bishop was already calling for backup when Wanda destroyed his radio. Not satisfied, she launched a hex bolt at him- but to her astonishment, Bishop caught it with his hand. The bolt remained on his hand long enough to turn red and fire back at Wanda, knocking her onto her back.

It wasn't clear who moved first, Pietro or Toad. What was clear was that Pietro arrived first, dashing towards Bishop's side and punching him in the face. A cackling Pyro jumped up and down, cheering. With the rest of the team now arriving, Lance pushed Pyro in mid-jump and knocked him over.

"Lance, get Wanda," Pietro ordered. Lance was about to pick her up, but she shrugged his hand off, and stood up on her own.

"What now, fearless leader? We're fucked!" Lance protested.

"Blob, cover us! Toad, can you fly that jet?" Toad mumbled for a bit. "Oh, who cares. Just get in there." Pietro took his sister and ran to the chopper, and moments later, Toad arrived, followed by Lance. Fred remained in the hangar (along with a bound Pyro) as Bishop got back to his feet, and his reinforcements arrived, immediately opening fire. Fred had placed himself so that the agents wouldn't be able to fire on the open door of the chopper (and the armor on the vehicle made sure it couldn't just be shot down). Bishop took his white plastic gun and fired a red blast at Fred; and like Wanda, he was just a bit surprised by how much of a wallop it packed.

"Fred, get in here!" Lance yelled, while Bishop prepared another blast. Fred turned his back on the SHIELD agents and ran for the chopper, jumping in and rocking it as Toad piloted it out of the hangar. Before they were clear, Lance threw the Pilot onto the hangar floor. He quickly closed the side door and they flew off.

"Get me Fury," Bishop said to one of the agents. "We've got fugitives."

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Toad kept his sweaty, trembling hands on the controls of the chopper. He knew Lance was right; they were fucked. He knew they were on borrowed time, and that the moment SHIELD got their hands on them, they'd be locked up. They wouldn't even be given a trial- SHIELD didn't have to play by the same rules as the rest of the government. Seated in the co-pilot's seat, Lance's expression did nothing to ease Toad. He kept rubbing his face, both exasperated and anxious about the situation. They had already ditched the equipment SHIELD had given them as tracking devices, but that did nothing to calm them.

"Th-they're gonna find this thing," Toad said to the others. "They probably got like a trackin' device on this..."

"I know we're fucked!" Pietro yelled back. "But I couldn't just leave."

"I knew I never should have listened to you," Lance groaned. "There was a little voice in my head saying 'don't be retarded, Pietro's going to screw you over again,' and I didn't listen. Fuck, I should've just taken Lucas's offer."

"Lucas's offer?" Wanda asked, seated across from Pietro and Fred. "What did he offer you?"

"He wanted me to be part of his goon squad. I told him to go away."

"He never told me had was trying to recruit any of you. Who else did he go to?" Wanda asked, looking around.

"Nobody," Fred answered. "I guess he thought Lance was the only one who was good enough."

"...Or the only one he felt was willing to work with him," Wanda added, rubbing her forehead.

"Is this a problem?" Lance asked, irritated enough by their situation.

"No, it's nothing," Wanda said. "Forget about it. These idiots have a point, Pietro. Just what are you going to do now?"

"Won't be much longer before we've got some SHIELD jets on our tails," Pietro told the group. "But there's one place where we can hide out for-" He was interrupted by a loud groan from Lance. "...Shut up, Lance, it's our only option right now."

"I know, but I'm getting kind of tired of having to ask for that guy's help," Lance told him. "It'd bad enough I told Kitty I was considering taking classes there. There's gotta be somewhere else we can go. Maybe one of you guys knows where Mystique is..."

"You honestly think we'd be better off finding Mystique?!" Pietro retorted. "Face it, Alvers, this is our only chance."

"Uh, just so we're clear," Toad asked from the pilot's seat, "You guys are talking about Xavier, right? Because he ain't gonna like this."

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Erik Lehnsherr sat in his room, quietly reading "King Lear" with Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate playing in the background. Hearing the sound of the Velocity outside, he wiggled his finger to turn the volume up. He idly wondered why they the helicopter was in use when he hadn't cleared any missions, but assumed that perhaps Cyclops had given someone an assignment. He wasn't in any mood to go argue with the younger mutants.

After a moment, he noticed that the helicopter's sound remained. He set down his book and looked out the window to see that a SHIELD helijet was hovering over the Institute grounds. Already, Cyclops, Jean, and Colossus were outside to greet it. Leaving his room, Erik saw that Charles was already on his way out.

"Why is SHIELD here?" Erik asked.

"I know as much as you do, I imagine," Xavier replied.

"What is wrong with you?!" Cyclops yelled through the windshield at Toad, sitting in the pilot's chair, as the jet touched down. Toad, unable to properly hear as the rotors powered down, shrugged and shook his head. Fred threw open the side door, literally- Colossus caught it and tossed it aside. Pietro then jumped out of the jet. "Blob? Pietro? What do you think you're doing here? Don't tell me you hijacked this thing! What are you thinking bringing it here?!"

"We need the Institute's help," Pietro admitted.

"I have to agree with Cyclops's sentiments," Erik said, appearing with Professor Xavier. "What have you done now?"

"We need to hide out," Pietro explained to his father. "Yeah, we hijacked a SHIELD jet, if you have to know, Summers, and we're probably being chased. If you can harbor a bunch of confused students, you can harbor us." Toad and Fred were already outside. Lance followed, and then Wanda appeared, remaining inside the jet to observe the proceedings.

"Wanda?" Erik asked. "What happened? I thought-"

"She's with us," Pietro said. He guessed that Magneto was trying to avoid tipping the X-Men to his knowledge of the Brotherhood's mission. "SHIELD sent us to find her and Lucas. She came back with us, but SHIELD's goons wanted to detain her. So... we're on the lam and we need a place to hide."

"I appreciate the gravity of your situation," Xavier said, "But we can't risk having SHIELD on our list of enemies. I'm sorry, Pietro, but we can't afford to harbor any fugitives." Pietro looked to his father, his eyes telling him that he expected help from him. After all, he did bring Wanda back.

"Charles, a moment." Erik and Xavier moved to one side to talk in private. "If we help them, Wanda may become more sympathetic to us... and she could give us information about your son."

"I know that, Magnus. But... we can't risk this. We have our students to consider now." As if to illustrate his point, students had already gathered at the entrance to the mansion, wondering what was going on at the front lawn. "I'm afraid we have to consider their safety before our own."

"Charles... let me take the blame."

"What?" Xavier asked, stunned.

"I was a known terrorist, but you have a clean history. SHIELD trusts you. If they come here looking for them, I will take full responsibility. You can deny any knowledge or involvement. You and the Institute will remain safe, and I will answer to SHIELD."

"Magnus, I can't let you do that. You've worked too hard to rebuild your reputation, you can't risk it now. I'm sorry, but I can't-"

"Charles, please," Erik told him. Though Magneto had reformed, Charles wasn't used to hearing him say 'please,' and was disarmed by it. "Wouldn't you risk the same in order to protect your son?"

Charles couldn't readily answer that.

"...I don't like this, Magnus," Charles relented. "We will house them, but... I won't become involved in any SHIELD investigation. I will deny that I knew anything about this. I just hope that you realize how much you are throwing away for this."

"Five years ago, I wouldn't have done this."

"Five years ago, you wouldn't have been afraid of SHIELD." Xavier quietly turned away from the helijet and back towards the mansion, leaving Erik to deal with the newcomers.

"Go inside, all of you," He said to his children and their team. Pietro motioned for everyone to follow him. Wanda lingered for a moment as Erik stayed with the SHIELD jet. "Wanda, we can talk inside. First, I need to clear this out." Erik raised his hand and the heli-jet's rotors came to life, along with the jet engines. Inside the cockpit, the autopilot switch was engaged, and the heli-jet took to the sky. Magneto spun it around and sent it flying in an arbitrary direction. He guessed that SHIELD would detect that their chopper had landed briefly at the Institute's coordinates, but the decoy would at least buy him time.

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"So, I guess the whole gang's moved in," Kitty said to Lance. They sat together on the stairs in the mansion's foyer, while the others loitered around the main area. Fred, Pietro and Toad stuck together, but Wanda was a fair distance away, seated near a window. Several of the students were puzzled by the Brotherhood's appearance, and stayed away from them. "Why is it that you guys come here when there's trouble, but you still hate us?"

"We don't hate you," Lance explained. "Well, I don't. We just hate stuck-up types like Summers. You can't tell me he'd have left us to rot in a SHIELD cell if it were up to him."

"Can you blame him?" Kitty retorted. "You guys don't exactly have a reputation for making nice with people. Plus, you go out of your way to push Scott's buttons."

"That's only because he does the same to me," Lance defended. "Remember the time I joined you guys? I was trying to get along, but he was a dick to me that whole week."

"Again, can you blame him?" Below, Fred had claimed a couch for himself. Pietro squeezed into the small space left, while Toad hopped onto the armrest. With his tongue, he grabbed a magazine from a nearby table and began flipping through it. "You know, in a weird, creepy way, it's kind of nice to see you guys back together."

"Hey Toad, where do you guys keep the snacks around here?" Fred asked.

"Kitchen's usually closed at this hour. There's a fridge in th' staff lounge, but Summers is probably gonna keep us outta there."

"Well screw him, I'm hungry."

"Fred? Hey, Freddy!" Fred strained to turn his head and look behind him at an odd angle, and spotted Ellie Harsaw, the lavender-haired girl he had met in Dallas. She was walking out of the library with a group of students, but moved away once she saw Fred, letting the group go on without her. "I didn't think you'd visit so soon!"

"Aw, heck!" Fred stood up quickly (with the sudden shift in balance forcing Pietro to fall onto the area previously occupied by the Blob), and embraced Ellie. He immediately felt the wide-eyed looks of the other guys. For the moment, he brushed it off. He'd explain later. "It's only been a few days. So, uh, how you been?"

"I'm doing fine, I guess." Ellie looked much more self-assured than she did just a week before, when Fred had met her as a runaway, which wasn't really saying much, but at least she didn't seem depressed. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, just visiting," he lied. "Me and the boys came to check up on our pal Toad here. I was hoping I'd get a chance to see you, too." By now, several students were watching them, curious about these strange newcomers who were hanging out with Magneto's right-hand thug.

"Are we celebrities again?" Pietro muttered to Toad, who just shrugged and turned back to his magazine. Pietro stood up. "Yeah, it's us. The Brotherhood, live and in-person." Pietro even stroked his hair and struck a dynamic pose. Fred and Toad did nothing. On the stairs, Lance just rolled his eyes and while Kitty giggled. "I'm sure you've heard all about us."

"Yeah," Ellie said. "We've had lessons about you. But... the teachers tell us a different story than you did, Fred."

"And what would that be?" Pietro asked. Fred glanced around nervously.

"...And here it comes," Toad muttered knowingly to himself.

"The X-Men used to kick your sorry asses all the time back in the day!" a jock boy said, overhearing the conversation.

"I asked you what our status was, Toad," Pietro snarled.

"You asked if we were celebrities. It's kinda half-true, so I just shrugged." Toad repeated the shrug and turned back to the magazine.

"You gotta understand, there's four of us," Pietro explained. "Sometimes five. The X-Men have always had at least six, and then they had times like when we tried to beat up Mayor Kelly, and they brought everyone. That was what, seventeen against four? Forget the X-Men's self-serving revisionist history. Let me tell you how it really was..."

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"I... knew all about what they were doing," Erik Lehnsherr admitted. He stood together with Wanda, though several feet apart, watching over the empty courtyard, long after the sun had set, from the balcony of Wanda's guest room on the second level of the Xavier Institute. The wind blew the curtains lightly, along with Wanda's and Erik's hair.

"I know," Wanda said. "They couldn't have found me without either yours or Xavier's help. I also know that they were all offered money, but all Pietro would get was a pardon." Wanda couldn't remember a time when she had stood next to her father without trying to kill him. At least not in actual memory. "SHIELD or Lucas will come for me. I don't think I'm going back to either."

"I doubt Lucas will come. He needed you to fight us. Without you, I don't think he has the courage."

"He does," Wanda said. "But he's too obsessive to go through with his plans if he's not sure I'll be there to back him up. The X-Men would have a better chance if they were more... proactive. Why does Xavier insist on sitting here and waiting for trouble to come to him?"

"Perhaps being confined to a wheelchair has made him reluctant to pursue any activity," he mused. "He is very stubborn, in his own passive way. He has his flaws... but he's a good man. He gave me a second chance, even after everything I'd done. If you weren't being pursued, he would offer you the same."

"Why? So I can be one of the X-Men?" Wanda scoffed.

"Their ideals may be naive, but they mean well. They want to live normal lives, but they've been cursed as we have."

"What's so great about being normal anyway?" Wanda asked as she leaned forward against the railing. "I don't think humans are ever going to like us. Why try living with them?"

"I used to think that way. Sometimes, I still do. I'm giving Charles's dream a chance. But what hope do these children have?" There was a long moment of silence. Looking for something to talk about, Wanda took the initiative.

"Is Kelly still mayor?"

"Unfortunately. Public opinion is turning in his favor, which is why the X-Men must present themselves as friends. This was one of Wolverine's two reasons for leaving."

"What was the second?" Wanda asked.

"Me." Erik lifted his hand and brought his old helmet to him, looking down on it as if looking at the face of a different man. "I can't say I blame him. Even now, I find it hard to get along with most of the X-Men. Cyclops still refuses to trust me. Colossus never speaks to me. Only Shadowcat and Beast consider me their friend. And as much as I hate to admit it, Toad is more reliable than I'd imagined."

"If you keep that thing around, they're not going to trust you."

"I need it. It's not easy living with two powerful telepaths. Some of the students enrolling here have shown minor abilities. Sometimes, I need privacy." Erik set the helmet down on the railing, and a moment of silence passed by with the light breeze. "Wanda... our time together right now will be very short," Erik told her. "Before we say anything else, there's something I need you to know." Wanda looked at him, prepared for another one of his empty apologies.

"Several years ago, I was living in Romania," Erik explained. "Specifically, Transia. I had spent years trying to determine what I was, experimenting and researching. I had become worried that, at my old age, I had accomplished nothing, and still did not understand what I was. My research brought me to the Cyttorak gems... and exposure to them not only enhanced my powers, but rejuvenated my appearance. I felt like I'd had a second chance at life. I was determined not to waste it. Eventually, I met someone, and fell in love. The woman's name was Magda... Magda Maximoff. She was your mother, and you deserve to know what happened to her."

Wanda looked out onto the courtyard. She had no memory of her mother. Magneto could make up any story, and she'd have no way of confirming it.

"Your mother's death was my fault." Wanda's eyes widened slightly and she looked at her father with interest. "In those days, Romania had fallen under Communist rule... some fought against it. These revolutionaries had to find ways to stay hidden, and they trespassed on the home Magda and I shared. In my arrogance, I thought I could drive them all way, but I was a fool. They were frightened by my powers... as I knew that all humans would be... and in their terror, they decided that my family was as evil as I was. I killed several of them myself, but not wanting to shed any more blood, I let two get away. Less than a week later, your mother took you and your brother into town to see the doctor for a routine checkup. The two that got away attacked them in the town with several more men. Your mother distracted them while a... good samaritan carried you away to safety, but they ended your mother. When I learned of what happened, I went to town. In my anger I killed many... not all of them guilty."

Wanda had no words for him.

"For years I told myself that I was justified. My pride wouldn't allow me to see that I was wrong." Erik's hands tightened against the railing. "It was shortly after that that I met Charles, and came to the conclusion that I was a mutant. I convinced myself that they had done it to spite me because of my mutant powers."

"So not only did you lock me away and try to change my memories, you doomed my mother," Wanda said solemnly. "You're not making a good case for yourself."

"I just want you to know the truth, Wanda," Erik admitted. "Putting you away was a very difficult decision for me. I convinced myself that if I was to succeed in conquering the lesser race... I would need no obstacles. Once you were out of the way, I placed Pietro in a foster home. I'm not sure if he ever told you, but we didn't meet again until I recruited him for the Brotherhood."

"That wasn't far from when Mystique rescued me," Wanda said. "So you were a jerk to him, too. I always thought you favored him."

"Had he developed powers like yours, I would have treated him the same way. When you re-emerged and began to hunt me, I hired Mastermind to change your memories."

"I know that! He put them back. I remember everything now. The cold cell, the dry food, the years of solitude... it never once occurred to you that if I ever got out, I would want revenge?"

"It did. I thought Charles would keep you in line so that I wouldn't need to step in. I underestimated Mystique's resolve." Erik turned away to face the doorway of the balcony. "I was always mistaken about Mystique. I scared her into helping me, but after several years, she gained the courage to stand against me... now she's one of my most cunning enemies. When I recruited my Acolytes, I did the same with Colossus. But when I saw Charles' recruits respected him... I wanted that. I was tired of being feared. I wanted to be respected."

"Good luck with that. I can see where Lucas is coming from now. Go, have fun with your new kids. The old ones are broken, so just leave them on the sidewalk for the garbagemen to collect. What is your point?"

When Wanda turned to look at him, she almost lost her balance in shock. The undersides of Magneto's eyes were wet and dripped down into his cheeks. Wanda looked into his eyes and no longer saw the bitter madness of a conqueror, but only the regret of a man who had made many mistakes in his long life.

Magneto couldn't say anything else. He collapsed into Wanda's arms and rested his tired head on her shoulders, releasing his restraint and crying against her.

"I'm so sorry, Wanda... I'm so sorry..."

He had to be faking it. Could it be real? Could she really continue hunting a man like him? If he truly regretted it, then it seemed his actions had caught up to him, and whatever punishment she gave him couldn't match what life had already done to the man.

Immediately, she thought of Lucas, whose madness was beginning to rival Magneto's. His quest for revenge came before anything else and he went to great steps simply because he wanted a psychological victory. To spite his father. Lucas's father hadn't even abandoned him; he simply didn't know he had ever been born. Wanda had known that, but her own hatred of her father had blinded her so that she could form an alliance with someone she thought she had something in common with. Was that what she was like? She couldn't be as fanatical as Lucas. She wouldn't be. But still...

"This is all nice... but it doesn't change anything."

"I understand, Wanda," Erik sighed.

"I'd like to get some rest... if you don't mind," Wanda told him somewhat tensely, though a bit weakly. Erik took the hint and began to leave.

"Wanda... I want you to know that... even though I've been a monster to you... I still love you. And I am here for you, if you ever need me." Wanda didn't reply. Erik silently walked out and closed the door behind him. Wanda sat down and let herself fall onto the bed. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to destroy everything around her.

She couldn't find the strength to do any of that. She couldn't even fall asleep. She just sat on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about her life, Lucas, her father, her old friends, and her future.

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"I disagree with this entire idea," Cyclops told Lance, Fred, Pietro and Toad as he led them through the dormitory wing that night. "I hope you all realize that we won't be covering for you if SHIELD comes looking for you."

"Yeah, yeah," Lance said. "Trust me, Summers, if you came to our place with SHIELD on your tail, we'd do the same thing."

"That's assuming I'd be stupid enough to go to you for help." Cyclops led them into one of the unused rooms in the boys' dormitory. The students were usually placed four to six to a room, but three rooms were always left in reserve for guests. Wanda had been shown a room in the girls' wing on the opposite side of the mansion. "Make yourselves at home. Look, just try to stay out of sight," Cyclops told them. "We're trying to minimize our liability. It's going to be hard to do that if we have the five of you stomping around the place. Stay here, and we'll have meals brought to you. Oh, and Toad, Magneto wants you to report for duty."

"Aww. Well, work is work, even at midnight," Toad said, and hopped along with Cyclops down the hall.

"I have to say, I think everyone called bullshit on everything you just said back there," Lance said to Pietro, in reference to his chat with a group of students about the Brotherhood's history.

"It all happened," Pietro insisted. "Your memory's just as shoddy as your taste in apparel."

"We did not fight Apocalypse. Do you know how I know that? Because we've never even been in the same room with Apocalypse!"

"You've never been in the same room as Apocalypse, Lance. If you're going to complain about minor details, you'll never be the storyteller I am."

"While we're here, what was the deal with that Ellie girl?" Lance asked Fred, who was carrying a large sub sandwich with him as a late night snack. "Since when do you care about people?"

"Uh... that was all Unus's idea. You know Unus, my boss? He takes in runaways all the time." Fred took a bite. With his mouth full, he added, "Besides, she's a good kid. She needed a place to stay, so I pointed her over here."

"You've gone soft, man," Lance said, chuckling. "Used to be we'd beat up anyone who looked at us funny. Now Fred's taking in strays, Pietro's risking prison for his sister and I'm..." Lance stopped himself before he gave them any fuel. "I'm the only tough guy left." In response, Fred pushed Lance, knocking him to the floor with ease. "Hey!"

"See? I'm still tough." Lance began to stand up, but Fred pushed him back down. "See?"

"Ha, ha. You made your point, Blob." Lance stood up again, and once more Fred pushed him down. "Cut it out!" Lance stood up again, and Fred pushed him. "That's it!" Lance clenched his fists and the hall began to shake. Flakes of debris began to fall from the ceiling. Fred had already rooted himself on the ground, so the tremor had no effect on him, but the doors all flew open as the boys rushed out to see what was going on.

"Sweet! Fight!" one of them yelled. Their calls were silenced when Scott showed up, having already changed out of his uniform, but keeping his visor. Kurt also teleported in, and an unarmored Piotr came in after them.

"Break it up, break it up!" Scott ordered. "I don't know who started what, but if you're going to stay here, you're going to behave, you got it?"

"Yes, I do not want to have to be rough with children present," Piotr added, palming a fist. He was looked at Fred in particular, more eager to match brawn against him than he'd care to admit. Brotherhood and X-Men confrontations had an uncanny tendency to be symmetrical, and if they weren't, they became that way. Pietro and Kurt had already locked eyes, and Scott and Lance were just a hair away from exchanging blows.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want the kids to see how a fight between us REALLY ends," Lance threatened. "C'mon guys. In the morning, we'll listen to how Summers single-handedly took us all out." As Lance turned his back, Scott grabbed his shoulder. Lance prepared to strike, but saw that Scott just wanted to have the last word.

"Magneto might give you chumps a free pass, but not me or the Professor. You do anything stupid and I'm turning you into SHIELD myself."

"That's not gonna happen," Pietro said.

"You want to try me, Maximoff?" Pietro responded by pointing behind him. Against his better judgment, Scott turned around to the hall window. A SHIELD helijet was making a landing.

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Outside, Commander Bishop and four SHIELD agents exited the lead jet. Two others were landing on opposite sides of a triangle formation around the mansion, each with six SHIELD agents. Within moments, Professor X and Magneto were out the door to greet them, along with Toad. Kurt teleported onto the front steps with Scott and Piotr. The agents were already dispersing across the Institute grounds.

"Professor Xavier," Bishop called. "Our sensors detected a stolen chopper landing here. We discovered it heading out towards the ocean, empty, and came here. We're looking for five fugitives, all mutants."

"Commander, I appreciate your situation, but I will not have you invading my school without just cause. I assure you, we harbor no fugitives. This is a school."

"With all due respect to you, Professor," Bishop said, with his arms behind his back, "SHIELD intelligence is never wrong. There's one of them, right behind you. These five are important to a larger case. Under government authority, I am ordering that you hand them over, or we will take them by force."

"We will do no such thing," Magneto said, with Toad at his feet. "Toad serves me, and you will not take him nor any of the others."

"Suit yourself." Bishop pulled out a plastic pistol. Immediately, Toad lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. Magneto pulled the rifles away from the agents flanking Bishop and tore them to pieces.

"Charles, I must apologize. I've known all along," Magneto said for the benefit of SHIELD.

"Magnus... I can't risk the students. If you know where the other four are, hand them over!"

"I will do no such thing. Toad, get the others. Get as far from here as you can." Toad nodded and hopped away. "And Toad..." Toad paused to hear Magneto's final order. "Keep her safe." Toad turned and hopped back towards the mansion as Magneto tore the SHIELD helicopter open. The pilot jumped out before Magneto crumpled it all into a useless ball.

"Magnus!" Xavier pleaded, no longer just pretending to go along with Magneto's story, "Stop this! Let them do their job! They won't be harmed!"

"I'm sorry, Charles, but you know as well as I do that there is no guarantee."

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"What's going on?" Kitty asked, phasing through a wall to meet with Lance, who was rushing down the hall with Fred and Pietro (who rather quickly passed them and ran ahead). "Don't tell me you're going to try escaping."

"That's exactly what we're doing," Lance replied. "Toad knows the place, so he's setting up an escape route. He's already got Wanda with him."

"Lance, don't you think they're going to find you anyway?"

"Yeah, but you can't blame us for trying."

"Well you're not moving very fast. Gimme your hands." Kitty took Lance and Fred's hands, and the three sunk into the floor. They emerged near the elevator on the floor below, where Toad, Pietro and Wanda waited.

"I forgot how weird that feels," Fred noted.

"Alright guys, we're goin' down," Toad told them, hopping into the open elevator. Pietro, Fred and Wanda quickly joined him, but Lance lingered for a second. "C'mon, Lance, what are ya waitin' for?"

"Kitty, I-" Without letting him speak, Kitty made the first move and kissed him. Lance held her tightly and returned her passion, feeling her warm body against his.

"Lance, come on!" Pietro yelled. After a moment, Lance broke the embrace. He looked into Kitty's eyes for a moment before running to the closing elevator. He kept his eyes focused on her as the doors closed, and the last image in his mind was a worried Kitty, wishing him luck with her blue eyes.

-------------------------------

Toad hopped out of the elevator door to the lowest sub-basement of the Institute, such a distance beneath the mansion that it was mostly rock, with only some metal panels to help keep a defined shape. Behind him were Fred, Lance, Pietro, and a confused Wanda.

"Will someone tell me where we're going?" she demanded.

"There's some tunnels around here that lead out," Toad explained as he hopped. "Xavier keeps them for last-ditch escapes, like the one we're doin' right now."

"Okay, but where do they lead?" Lance asked.

"Out!" Toad jumped into a side cave, and the others followed. "This one goes to a cave behind th' grounds. They ain't gonna think to look over there."

"What about Magneto?" Wanda asked.

"He's givin' us cover, which is why we gotta move!" After they'd cleared a metal doorway, Lance stopped and raised his hands. The tunnel began to shake and collapse, piling around the metal door. With the way in sealed, the group continued down the tunnel.

"Nice" Magneto and classic Evo Magneto don't mesh as well as I had hoped, so a little bit of the 616 and Movie Magnetos are thrown in to even things out. I try to avoid doing that, but this time, it was difficult. He's still fairly in-character.