Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long just to post another chapter for this story...or any of my stories for that matter. I had a hard time with my computer for a long time, and personal matters kept me away from writing. But I hope to do better in the future, and for the few of you who (possibly) still wish to follow this story, thank you very much for waiting and being so patient. This is a rather long chapter, to make it up to you.


"That was quite a show you performed." Magnus sat elegantly down, throwing his cape behind his shoulder pompously. "Very theatrical, for simple killing. Can't anyone ever perform revenge without the usual speeches?"

Wisteria regained composure rather quickly and set a haughty tone. "I think I was afforded my moment."

"Oh, buy your moments as you like, as long as it suits your ends." He interlocked his fingers and tilted back his head in order to appraise her, which seemed an action that was becoming increasingly common. Wisteria found it somewhat annoying. "How long have you been within the city, my dear?"

"What's it to you?"

"Only that I am wondering how I missed you. I am ashamed Charles and his sparse band of altruists knew of you first."

She was starting to get the sinking feeling that her entire act of vengeance had been staged. It relit the fire in her eyes. "I'd rather none of you knew of me."

"Now, now, don't be like that. Don't you want to hear what I have to offer?"

"The newest fashions in metal helmets, I'm guessing."

"Charming." He intoned darkly, his brow furrowing beneath the metal. He raised the helmet off his head to reveal a full head of silvering hair, peppered by strands of black. Thick eyebrows offset charcoal eyes, set deep on opposite sides of a long, protruding nose. Thin lips curled into a permanent, condescending sneer before moving on to the rest of the man. Magnus, or Magneto as she had heard him referred to as, was obviously in his elderly years, but nowhere near the definition of an elder. He was in peak physical condition, and his bearing betrayed he thought himself a man of twenty with the wisdom of centuries.

Wisteria, by comparison, seemed a wraith of a child.

Mystique, however, now that she was on hand for closer inspection, bore all the beauty and deadliness of a viper. Her low cut halter, which stretched tightly across her full upper body, coupled with a chiseled torso and an equally tight skirt only served to reinforce the impression of a slut. However promiscuous her sexual life, Wisteria knew the body of a fighter, and thought her chosen attire appropriate for distraction during battle. Mystique shot her a pretty smile, thought somewhat alarming, and spoke in a surprisingly husky voice. "You'll want to listen to this. It's interesting."

"So is Animal Planet." Wisteria shrugged.

Magnus leaned forward and tapped the table. "You have a great deal of raw power, my dear, if it could be harnessed and controlled. But your major strength lies in your vindictive anger. Such powerful fury and underlying hate I have rarely seen.

"I didn't think it was underlying."

He continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Your potential is enormous, child. It could prove limitless."

"Your point?"

"I would like to help you reach that potential. I would like to ask you to join me."

Wisteria grabbed the champagne bottle and, ignoring the glass, chugged from it for a moment. "Join you in what?" She finally said after she had clinked the bottle down on the table and wiped her mouth.

Magneto visibly winced at her lack of class, but continued. "Join me in my fight for mutant kind."

"I fight for me. What do I care for mutant kind?"

"You are mutant kind." This speech seemed rehearsed, but she listened. "We are all brethren in a fight against those who would oppose us. A war is brewing between humans and mutants. We, The Brotherhood of Mutants, ensure that mutants will win that war.

She smirked. "So, you kill humans?"

"It is not so simple, but there are human casualties."

She considered it for a moment, then decided she would still have access to all the same files Damien Vaughn had let her see before. All her work as a bounty hunter was free lance. This group seemed organized enough.

"You give trial runs for membership?"

"Certainly."

Wisteria raised the champagne bottle in mock salute. "I'll drink to that." She washed some more alcohol down her throat. Her head buzzed gently and a tingling sensation ran through her body.


Immediately upon waking, Wisteria felt her body tense up. Nothing unusual about that. Next upon stabilizing herself for whatever she may see, her mind tensed.

.::. What are you afraid of, Wisteria? .::.

Her emerald eyes snapped open instantly, and she sat up with little difficulty. "I've told you before, Professor." She said quietly. "Stay out of my head." Wisteria avoided his gaze and stretched her limbs subtly. Everything was a little stiff.

Xavier continued to gaze at her calmly, his chin propped on folded hands, elbows resting on his knees. Wisteria winced when her fingers ran lightly over the side of her head and she located a knot. Her wrists ached inexplicably, as did her throat.

"What happened?"

"You suffered a mental blackout." It seemed as though his voice should not be as calm and steady as it was. "Your mind overloaded, and your body shut down as a result. You have been comatose for over two days as a result. I have had to work with you mentally to help you regain consciousness. Needless to say, I do not believe this is a breech to our agreement."

She steeled herself for him to say something about…whatever he may have seen while he prowled around her mind. But he said nothing. He just continued on with his synopsis of what had happened. "The injury you felt on the side of your head resulted when you first passed out and your head coincided with the doorway. Your friends are extremely worried about you. There were quite a few instances when we were afraid you would die."

Xavier sighed and wheeled himself toward a metal table where an open notepad lay. He scribbled down a few words, and then laid down his pen again. It was then she realized that she was not in her own room. Looking around, she recognized the place as the med lab. Not only the med lab, but one of the solitary rooms in the med lab. It made sense, considering all that Xavier had told her, but med labs were not the most comfortable hangouts for her. She attempted to rise completely, but found herself to weak to do it.

"I would prefer it if you stayed here for a while, Wisteria, until we are sure you are out of danger completely."

"I'm fine, Professor," she replied quietly, careful to keep the panic completely out of her voice.

"I don't believe that to be so, Wisteria." He turned and looked at her with saddened eyes. "I know you do not trust us, but all the injuries you have sustained lately, the accidents you have had…this mental overload did not come out of thin air, did it?"

She did not answer, and he continued on.

"I believe at the present you may be a danger to yourself. True to your wishes, I will not pry into your private life, unless absolutely necessary. But I warn you that you tread upon a hazardous path. Whatever it is you run from, it is catching up with you."

He moved closer toward her, and she met his eyes reluctantly. Those blue orbs seemed to be pleading. "Please, Wisteria. Tell me what it is."

She turned her head away from him and spoke in her normal voice. "I should be okay in a couple of days. It's probably just fatigue."

Xavier moved toward the door. "I'll have someone check on you every hour. And I will be here twice daily, to observe and to listen, should you choose to trust me with anything. Please, for your safety, stay here." For a moment, as he spoke, she saw the walls turn from metal to stone, with carvings deep within the slabs. A blink, and it was gone. She could see that the Professor had seen the panic in her face, but all was calm now.

He exited, and the moment she thought that he would be a good ways down the hall, she mustered her strength and fell to the floor. On shaky legs, she rose and made her way slowly toward the door. She tried the handle. Locked.

Sinking down against the wall next to the door, she began to shake. From one cell to another.


Living with the Brotherhood was an experience in itself. Toad was an annoying piece of work, for one, and Avalanche thought himself God's gift to mutant.

The others there were a mutinous crew that all vied for the top spot, though they knew Magneto could knock them down easily, and second in command was too well filled by Mystique. So there were constantly changes in lieutenants. Only slightly less frequent were the changes of the third in command. This week, it happened to be Blob.

Once she had thoroughly scouted out the inner workings of this organization, Wisteria thoroughly intended to secure a permanent place as high in the ranks as she could be. But for now, she was busy with other things. Third in command would have to wait. More targets waited to be found out and killed.

Vaughn, she found out, was more than willing to let his killers become parts of other groups. In fact, Arachne often hung out around an organization called the Morlocks. Some had found their way into other Anti-human groups. Vaughn who was a human, shrugged it off as personal choice. He didn't really care who belonged to what, as long as they met the body count.

The other members of the Brotherhood took rising interest in their newest addition to the team, even though she took no interest in them. Twice, Sabertooth had tried to engage her in combat, to test her powers. Both times, Wisteria rose to the occasion and it ended in a stalemate, mainly because her heart wasn't in it.

But one thing that she did look forward too was a fight with the Xmen. Around the brotherhood hangouts, there were talked about with all the expectation of Christmas. It was all a matter of time until the "X jerks", as some of the younger members childishly referred to them as, showed up and tried to destroy them, sometimes when they hadn't done anything. And regaling tales of the fights was very popular around the hangouts.

"There was this one time I was fighting Storm." Toad told her excitedly one day. Wisteria backed away slightly to avoid his breath. "She was shooting lightning everywhere, and she nearly hit me several times…then I leaped off the building and shot my tongue out toward her face…the mucus hardened around her eyes and she couldn't see!"

"So she hit a copper vat." Pietro finished in a bored manner. "And knocked everyone unconscious. I thought father was going to kill him." Pietro turned his head from the TV he was watching and gave her a roguish grin. "Don't listen to a word he says. He only thinks he can fight well."

Toad leaped out of the room in a huff and could be heard muttering to himself the rest of the day if you neared his bedroom.

It wasn't long before the day when she did get to experience such a skirmish. Mystique had ordered that they attempt to steal a formula from a laboratory just south of Greenville, South Carolina. As usual, she didn't say what the formula did or what they were going to do with it. In the Brotherhood, you only followed orders. You never asked questions.

And Magneto handpicked her to lead a team into the lab. Pietro sulked the entire way over there, as they rode in metal spheres that Magneto had fashioned to transport them. Wisteria emerged from the cocoon with relief…tight spaces were never to her liking.

The security was very lax. It was almost a boring task. There were a few droids here and there that needed destroying, but beyond that they reached the inner lab with little to no trouble. Wisteria motioned for Lance and Pietro to guard the exits while she went to find the head scientists. There entrance had been a silent one, and he was bent intently over his work.

"Excuse me, sir." He turned around to face her, his face going to confusion. "But I was wondering if you might be so kind as to give me the plans to Project 14790?"

"That's…classified." He adjusted his glasses. "You shouldn't be here. Who are you? How did you get past security?"

"Perhaps I need to rephrase." Her eyes began to glow an ominous shade of green and vines tore the tile up from the floor as the pushed their way through the foundations. Ivy wrapped around his ankles and then pulled, sending him to his knees. "You're going to lead me to the plans concerning Project 14790."

"I doubt that very highly." She turned to see a blue man that she recognized from the computer containing profiles. Muscular frame, but a very intelligent face, and wild, unruly hair. It was Beast. The receptor in her ear buzzed as she heard Pietro hiss into it.

"Wisteria! Wisteria…we've got company. The Xmen are here."

"Way to warn me ahead of time, Pietro." She replied calmly, before focusing her attention on Beast. The scientist was attempting to crawl off. She roped him down with ivy.

"Hello, Dr. McCoy. Can I help you?"

"I would be very grateful if you let that man go."

"When he gives me the plans, I will."

"No, you're going to let him go now." Another voice sounded from the corner of the room, and she looked over to see a man with a visor, holding his hand up to the visor threateningly. "Or I'll shoot."

"Don't make this such a Western movie, Cyclops." She smirked in their direction, took a step toward where the vines had pushed through, felt her feet touch dirt, and allowed herself to travel through. Astonished gasps were the last things she heard before reemerging in the room that led deeper into the labs. If she were to find what she were looking for, she would have to look fast. She ran over to a computer and typed an advanced hacking code quickly, inserting a disk and watching as the computer started to copy files onto the blank. Hopefully the right one would be on that super computer.

Footsteps sounded hurriedly and she heard Scott Summers yell for them to hurry. "She's in here!" She tensed herself, building energy, then caused a wall of thick wood to spring up in front of the door they were attempting to enter. Turning back toward the computer, she was surprised to find a man with extended claws waiting for her. He swung his arm out toward the computer and stopped just before hitting the screen.

"I'd rather destroy this thing than let you have what's on it."


­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Logan walked down the hallway toward the medical containment room where Wisteria was confined. They weren't holding the kid hostage. Xavier was just afraid if left free to roam, an accident might occur. Like before…

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. The kid didn't remember, but she had come to consciousness once during her…instability. She didn't recognize anyone. Her eyes burned with fear and rage and she yelled at them not to come near her. Then she fell to the floor and twitched with pain. At first, they couldn't see why. Then they saw the thorns wrapped around her wrists and throat. They had thought it was just the pattern on her skin…

The only reason they got the thorn s off of her was because she went comatose again. The Professor said she had laced those thorns with poison. Without even realizing it.

They almost lost her.

Logan had taken an almost instant liking to the kid when they had first met. Maybe it was because they both knew, without having to say a word, what had happened to each other. Both understood the rage and pain, without having to hear the stories.

Still, all Logan knew was that she had been hurt by similar lunatics, the same breed that had experimented on him. He wished he knew exactly how to help her.

If she didn't let some of this go, it would destroy her. But the pain would never go away completely.

Logan unlocked the room, balancing some food for Wisteria in one hand. He panicked for a moment when he saw she wasn't on the bed, but a sound beside the door drew his attention to the girl.

Wisteria had curled up tightly on the floor, head on her knees and sobbing quietly.

Logan set the goods down and closed the door gently. He sank down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Wisteria jumped and grabbed his wrist, looking at him in fear and shock before relaxing her grip.

"L…Logan?" She whispered after a moment, relief washing over her face. At least she knew who he was right now. Wisteria's hold his wrist became more of a hold for help now. "Can you see them?"

He sighed. "No."

"Oh." Wisteria let go of his wrist and stared out into the rest of the room. She had stopped crying and the look of steel had resumed its place.

"Kid, what happened to –"

"I'm tired, Logan. Will you stay here, to make sure nothing happens?"

"Okay."

"Do you mind if I sleep for a while?"

"No. I don't mind." He watched her lay down on the space of floor next to him and curl up, her thin frame shivering from time to time. He waited for her breathing to settle, and then went to get a blanket to put over her, and a pillow to slip under her head. He knew it wasn't cold she was shivering from, but he wanted to help as much as possible.