"Dammit!"
Alex turned around and sent out another blast from his chest, but he could feel himself weakening. He'd never fought this long or hard before, and it was starting to wear on him. His throat was scratchy, and he made a mental note to tell Hank to include a little pocket for a water bottle if he ever redesigned the uniforms.
"Havok, this way," Hank said.
He gestured with one of his arms. The other was keeping Sean in place. He'd been able to get a few good screams off before Mystique had hit him over the head. He hoped that Sean wasn't concussed, but either way he was unconscious and they didn't have time to revive him.
Once again they'd been able to get to vital information only seconds before the Brotherhood. There was just too much data being collected in unsecure servers by the CIA. It was like they were begging someone to steal it. He'd almost thought it was a trap, and he'd mentioned it to Moira. She'd just sighed and mumbled something about having a stupid boss.
Either way, the Brotherhood had been just a little bit too late. He'd felt smug about that, only to realize that, even though they'd destroyed the database, the Brotherhood were right there and very unhappy. Sean had screamed, Alex had sent a few energy blasts their way, and they'd run for their lives.
He wasn't sure just how deep they'd gotten into the compound before the Brotherhood had caught up to them. That was when Sean had gotten injured, and they'd managed to flee again. Every so often he had to blindly set out a blast behind him, hoping that it slowed someone down. They didn't have too much time for more.
His eyes flickered to the roof. It wasn't too far away from them, and it did look like it was a little weak. He did some quick calculations.
"Beast, run faster," Alex said, "I'll be there in a sec."
Hank didn't bother to ask him what he was doing. He sped up and Alex blasted the roof. He saw chunks of plaster and wood fall down in front of Mystique and Angel. He knew Magneto was with them, just a few steps behind. There wasn't too much metal in the debris though, so he figured it was okay. There had also been some new faces with them, but Alex didn't want to think too much about that.
He turned and drew level with Hank.
"I've bought us a coupla minutes," Alex said.
"Let's not waste them," Hank said.
Up ahead Alex could see the door that they came in through. He breathed a sigh of relief and they pushed through it. The Blackbird was nearby, and they should be able to be far enough away to the point where Magneto couldn't get to them. They'd be safe once Hank got in and pushed the throttles.
He smiled grimly to himself. Once he got back the first thing he was doing was taking a shower, and not just because it would feel amazing. He'd taken great pains to make sure that Scott never saw him directly after he got back from a mission. He was always covered in grime and, more times than not, dried blood. Alex's brother worried enough without having to see the mess that Alex was often in after missions.
It still irked him that he'd had to tell Scott about the X-men. It was a secret that Alex had vowed to take to the grave with him, but Scott was sharper than he'd expected. He also thought that it might be due to his own occasional idiocy and penchant for getting weird injuries. Alex decided to leave that thought where it was for a while.
Scott always piled him with questions when he got an injury, and it made Alex feel uneasy. Still, he knew that he could do this. He'd meant it when he said that he would never be able to sit back and do nothing. They'd been raised that way, and raised well.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see the cloud of black smoke that appeared to his left. The next thing he knew Hank roared and shoved Alex to the ground. Alex looked up in time to see Hank block one of Azazel's knives with his forearm.
Blood spurted across the ground. Alex got up and set off a blast from his chest plate. There was a flash of black smoke and he whirled around, unsure of where Azazel was. There was another noise, like a soft explosion, and Alex turned again.
He sent off another blast, and he smelt burnt hair. He'd nicked him.
"Beast, get Banshee somewhere safe," Alex said.
"And leave you?" Hank asked, "Don't be stupid. You can't take him alone."
Alex wasn't sure that they could take him together. Usually Azazel came towards the end of the mission, when the Brotherhood was already withdrawing. He was the grand finale of a tough fight, a way for the Brotherhood to exit gracefully. They'd rarely encountered him when he was in full combative mode, and when they had there had been three of them to settle things and make sure that they could get away.
Now there were only two of them. They had, of course, trained in case they'd have to fight the teleporter, but training was one thing. This was completely different. Alex's eyes flickered back to the compound: Azazel must be buying the rest of the Brotherhood time to get to them. Alex didn't like the thought of being outnumbered in the open.
They needed to get out of there. The only real advantage they had to the Brotherhood's numbers was speed. Alex looked at the Blackbird. The last time it had felt this far away had been Cuba, and that was only because it had been a complete wreck then. Now they had to outrun Azazel and get to a decent distance before Magneto stopped them.
Why did they have to fly around in a great big chunk of metal? Alex hoped that Hank was at least working on the possibility of a plastic plane. It was certainly something that they would have to look into.
He saw the black cloud inches away from him and sent out another blast. Alex leaned back so he was back to back with Hank. Sean's legs dangled over Hank's back and knocked gently against Alex's arm as they turned to look around.
Hank growled and swiped. Alex ducked underneath his arm and kicked Azazel in the chest. He staggered back and Alex leapt at him, tackling him and shoving him into the ground. They needed to disorient him, just like they'd trained for.
Azazel teleported the two of them and Alex stumbled, disoriented. He fell to the ground as one of Azazel's swords bit into his forehead. It was deep, and Alex couldn't help but cry out. Blood ran into his eye, but he could still see enough to dodge the second swipe of Azazel's swords. This one nicked his forehead across the same spot, and more blood blurred his vision.
He kicked out, tripping him. Azazel teleported again, and he saw him go after Hank. Hank swiped with his claws, but Azazel kicked him in the chest. Hank dropped Sean. His friend landed in the mud, groaning slightly as he did so.
Hank grabbed onto Azazel's arm, and black smoke enveloped them. Alex scrambled to his feet and saw the two of them teleport some distance away. Azazel wriggled out of Hank's grasp and teleported again. Alex was ready for him and knocked him down.
Alex punched and dodged as much as he could. He could feel Azazel weakening under the assault, but he wouldn't stay down. Frustration mounted in him as he looked at the compound. They didn't have much time.
He lashed out Azazel, who stumbled. Azazel's eyes slid over to Sean, and suddenly Alex knew what it was he was seeing. Sean was unconscious on the ground, his mouth open slightly. Hank was far away, trying to catch up with them.
"No," Alex said, his voice harsh, "Don't-"
Azazel teleported. Alex sent out a blast above Sean's head, already running towards him. Azazel was burned the moment he appeared, but it just made him stagger. He didn't go down. Alex continued running towards him.
Stop! Target me, target me! Alex thought, Stop, don't, don't, you can't-
Azazel raised his sword again and Alex sent out another blast. This blast only managed to singe Azazel, and he teleported to Sean's other side. Alex doubled his speed. He was almost there. Just a few more steps, and he'd be able to push Azazel out of the way.
Even as he drew closer, Azazel seemed to ignore him, focusing instead on Sean. He drew back his knife.
Don't do it, don't, don't touch him, don't, Alex thought, feeling frantic, Let him go. Look at me! Target me!
He sent out another blast, but this one was clumsy. He could see Azazel laugh at it.
Don't touch him you sonuvabitch!
Alex threw himself at Azazel's sword arm. He could see surprise on his face, but Azazel snarled. Alex snarled right back. He wasn't going to let him hurt Sean. No matter what, his friend was going to be safe.
Azazel threw him off. Alex stumbled but pushed forwards. He grabbed Azazel's sword hand again. The tip of the metal pressed against the zipped-up collar of his uniform. In the back he could hear Hank roar, but he was still too far away. He weaseled his fingers underneath the sword, counting on his thick gloves to protect his hand. He watched for Azazel's other sword, watched for the moment it would come around and he would have to defend himself.
The sword came around. Alex brought up his free leg to block it. Azazel snarled again and redirected the blade. Alex watched, a cold dread growing within him as Azazel geared his knife towards the only other target in sight: Sean.
"No!" Alex shouted.
Thoughts flashed through his mind in quick succession. Hank was still too far away to help. Alex wanted to blast Azazel, but at close range he might only succeed at blowing all three of them up. His control wasn't good enough for a blast that was specialized enough yet. His powers were out of the question.
There was no way for him to knock the sword out of Azazel's hand. He'd just barely been able to dodge it. Both of his hands were occupied with making sure that Azazel's blade wouldn't cut his throat. he couldn't kick far enough to knock Azazel's knife out of his hand. Hitting his legs might make him stumble, but it wouldn't do enough good.
Another option stole across his mind. The blade Azazel was pressing to Alex's throat was on level with his own. If Alex could muster enough strength then he could push it forwards and cut Azazel's jugular.
The idea horrified him. He wasn't a killer. He'd been an X-man for over three years, and he'd never killed anyone. Sure, he'd hurt people, but he'd never killed anyone. He'd never plotted out a way to kill someone.
Azazel's blade continued to move towards Sean's exposed back. Thoughts flickered through Alex's mind, thoughts of his friend, Hank, his brother, his father, the Professor, Moira. What would they have him do? He didn't have it in him to kill Azazel. He couldn't let Sean die.
An ugly thought rose to the front of his mind.
Whose blood do you want on your hands? Azazel's, or Sean's?
Screaming wordlessly, Alex pushed himself forwards. He saw Azazel's eyes widen before the blade went home. Blood spurted over Alex's face, hot and bitter. It soaked his shirt as he continued to push further inwards and Azazel went down.
Azazel let go and fell to the ground. Alex stood over him, the blood dripping from his fingertips and face as Azazel twitched before lying still.
"Why wouldn't you let him go!" Alex screamed.
He stood, panting. His thoughts were a confused jumble. A hand touched his shoulder and he whipped around. Hank was standing there, Sean over his shoulder and his eyes wide. Alex stared at him, pleading with him to understand.
"Alex," Hank said, "We need to get back."
Alex swallowed, his throat feeling like sandpaper. He followed Hank back to the Blackbird and sat down, the blood cooling on his face. No one spoke.