Chapter Twenty-One: Bishop's Move

A/N: Hi guys! I've noticed a few more people have been following and favouriting this story - thanks so much! It would be super nice if some of you guys left reviews, I would absolutely adore it if I managed to get over 600 :)

"Get up! Tobi, get up!"

The urgency in Danni's tone shocked the younger girl awake. She sat bolt upright, watching as her friend peered cautiously out through the gap in the curtain. Tobi's green eyes widened with hope and her heart stammered to hammer at a frantic pace. Could it possibly be Alex? A small smile started to work across her face.

"Is he back…?"

"No." Danni shook her head fervently, closing the curtains and whirling around to face her friend. "Look, we've got to get out of here. It's Bishop."

Tobi suddenly froze. She pushed past Danni, ignoring her attempts to protest, and ripped open the curtains. All she needed was a quick glance at that familiar mop of dark hair, that sullen mooch. She clamped her hands over her mouth to suppress a gasp, staggering backwards. Tobi, who was so rarely afraid, was now terrified.

"Shit…"

"It's the Bishop you knew, isn't it?" Danni asked grimly, already knowing the answer. "That's why we have to get out of here. If he finds you, he'll kill you."

"No." Tobi shook her head slowly. "No, he wouldn't even know who I was."

Danni looked at her quizzically, except a sudden scream from downstairs drew them out of Tobi's room as if it was a magnet, luring them towards the sound. They moved towards the stairs – and quickly ducked down to stay out of sight. Danni inhaled sharply as she saw that a dark-skinned man held Lucie by the hair, laughing at her feeble struggles.

Bishop stood smiling down at a figure kneeling before him – and when the figure rose, Tobi found her blood boiling. It was Elliott and although she couldn't hear what was being said, the way Bishop clapped him on the back assured her that he had either been a traitor the entire time, or had chosen to change sides.

"We have to do something," Danni whispered beside her. "I'm not close enough for my power to directly affect them…"

But Tobi's eyes were flicking across the figures downstairs. Charles had wheeled into the room, demanding to know what was going on. Any attempts he might have made to interfere were quickly countered by the knife the dark-skinned man held to Lucie's throat. Charles observed Elliott with a horrified stare.

"Oh, Elliott…"

"I've chosen my side," Elliott snapped in retaliation, "I'm sick of the child's play. I want the real deal."

Tobi suddenly found herself staring at a blond young man with a nasty bruise around his eyes, who moved gingerly as if he had a few broken bones…and she couldn't restrain a cry of shock. Before Danni could stop her, Tobi was sprinting down the stairs towards Alex, as everyone present whirled around to look at her.

"Ah, so this is your girlfriend." Bishop smirked across at Tobi, who suddenly found herself jerked to a halt by a hand wrapped around her bicep. She turned and glowered at a tall blond man in his mid-twenties. Tobi made to yank her arm free using her super-strength, only she found herself incapable.

Bishop laughed. "You can try all you want, sweetie. Ghost here has the ability to negate powers. No one in this room, in this mansion actually, can use their mutations to their advantage. Not even me."

Tobi smiled humourlessly. "Sweetie? Seriously, Bishop, what's with all the little nicknames? Anyone would think you don't recognize me."

Bishop suddenly stiffened. He recognized that tone, the sarcasm that practically oozed from the girl in front of him. His eyes widened as he realized the truth. The girl he had thought hot was actually little Tobi. He jerked his head in a sharp nod, and Ghost released her.

"You're Tobi?" Bishop asked incredulously, his pale grey eyes widening. "I thought…damn you had us fooled."

He paced around Tobi who suddenly felt immobile. This was the bully from her childhood, the nightmare from her past. It was hard to fight back against something that you'd been afraid of for so long. Bishop's eyes roved over Tobi's curves and a suggestive smirk tweaked at the corners of his lips as he moved closer to her, so close that Tobi turned her head as she felt his hot breath on her neck.

"You're good a playing a boy…but holy shit, you're a girl."

"You can back away from my girlfriend now," Alex shot at Bishop in a hard voice, earning himself a violent shove from Ghost. "Just saying."

Tobi turned to stare at Alex, who was glaring down at his feet, deliberately not meeting her gaze. By the cuts and bruises that marred him, he had clearly been captured by Bishop. How long had he been a prisoner? What sort of abuse had he suffered? Tobi crossed towards him, tentatively touching his cheek.

"He's hurt you." Her voice was low and quivering with rage. "Alex, what are they doing here?"

"There'll be time for the sappy stuff later," Bishop said curtly, obviously over his initial astonishment at the truth about Tobi. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Alex. "For now, to business. Charles, I want the file on Sebastian Shaw."

Tobi exchanged a desperate glance with Danni, who had been hustled downstairs by a lanky woman. The dark-haired girl looked frightened and Tobi knew why – Charles didn't have the file. When the telepath didn't reply, Bishop's eyes narrowed.

"Raze, the little girl."

A burly man stepped forward, hauling young Zelda forward with him. There was a glimmer of steel in his hand. Tobi felt as though this was a nightmare, the sort of thing that could never have really happened. At Charles's mansion, she'd always felt safe and protected, as though no harm could never come to her. Now, that little bubble of paradise had been violently broken.

"If you don't tell me where Shaw's file is, I'll have Raze here cut her throat." Bishop sighed heavily, as if he abhorred the notion of bloodshed, yet Tobi noticed with contempt that his eyes glittered with malice.

"Leave her alone," Max snapped at Bishop, eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Or you'll do what?" Bishop countered smoothly, sparing Max a disdainful glance before focusing back on Charles. "Well, Charles? Do you really want to that girl dead? I can assure you, I'm not bluffing."

"I don't have it." Charles's blue eyes shone with despair as he shook his head. "I…I'm not lying to you. I truly don't have it."

Bishop frowned, staring across at Charles and then turning back to face Raze. For one terrifying moment, Tobi thought that Bishop would give the command for Raze to cut Zelda's throat. Instead Bishop merely shrugged, although his eyes were shining with frustration and anger.

"Alright, then. Where is it?"

Charles shook his head slowly, indicating that he didn't know. Tobi thought she knew, but she bit her lip. Did she really want to give the Brotherhood away? Even if she had a vendetta against Magneto because of what he'd done to Charles, Mystique was among the Brotherhood. Their past friendship stopped Tobi from putting her in harm's way…but did she have a choice?

"Well?" Bishop snarled, his rage starting to get the better of him. His hands balled into fists and he stalked back and forth. "You know there's going to be a price if you can't answer a simple question."

"Stop!" Tobi exclaimed, taking a step forward and sighing heavily. "I know who has the file."

She couldn't do this anymore. Alex had already been hurt by this monster…the Bishop she thought she'd known. Her green eyes narrowed as she glowered at her hated enemy. She wasn't doing this for his satisfaction, but rather to ensure the safety of those she cared about.

"Magneto has it."

"What?" Bishop demanded, his tone indicating that he'd heard of Magneto and the prospect of confronting him was not a pleasant one. He threw Ghost a meaningful look, and the older mutant simply shrugged. Bishop whirled back around to glower at Tobi. "You had better not be lying to me…"

Tobi held her hands up as if in surrender. "I'm not. You want to pinky promise?"

Sarcasm was her last form of defense against Bishop. She was trying desperately to prove that she wasn't afraid of him anymore, that she'd broken free…yet as he marched over to her and raised a hand as if to slap her, she flinched and turned her face away. Alex's mouth opened slightly. He didn't think he'd ever seen Tobi afraid of another person.

Bishop laughed hoarsely and lowered his hand. "I'm taking your word for it, Tobi. But your word's not enough. So I think we'll send a little party to go and fetch the file for me, hmm? Wouldn't want you getting ideas about warning your friends that I'm coming or attacking me as I leave."

Tobi ran her tongue over her teeth, frustrated, and squeezed her eyes shut. Now how were they supposed to get out of this sticky situation? Whoever went had the threat of the other mutants looming over their head. She glanced across at Elliott, who simply watched her with a hostile stare of his own.

"Let me see." Bishop paced around, examining the mutants critically. "How about the blue-furred thing…" This caused a low growl from Hank. "…the American-Indian girl…and you too I think, Alex."

Tobi wanted to punch Bishop. "Are you insane? He can barely walk! I don't know what the fuck you've done to him…"

"Cool your jets," Bishop retorted, cutting her off, "Meth, heal him before he goes off with the others, won't you?"

The dark-skinned man who had grabbed Lucie inclined his head. Tobi folded her arms across her chest, adamant that she was going to come, too. If Magneto proved hard to persuade about Shaw's file, then she would certainly give him a piece of her mind – and a fist to the face as well. She stepped forward.

"I'm going, too."

Bishop grinned, shaking his head vigorously.

"Oh, no. That's not happening. You see, Alex here functions at full capacity…" Bishop snatched the knife from Raze and pulled Tobi against his chest, pressing the knife to her throat. Alex immediately lunged forward, eyes burning. "…when he thinks you're in danger."

Alex had just proved Bishop's point. Her childhood foe clearly knew there was something between her and Alex…dammit, he had been the mutant in the car park that night! In order to make sure the mutants didn't rebel, Bishop needed leverage. To keep Alex in line, he planned to keep Tobi close. The thought sent shivers down her spine.

"You have three days," Bishop told Alex, Hank and Danni, his breath hot against Tobi's skin as he continued to hold the knife to her throat. "If you're not back, I start killing. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Crystal," Alex, Hank and Danni mumbled simultaneously.

Tobi thumped her fists angrily on the door. She had never felt more powerless in her life. She couldn't be in contact with the other mutants. She couldn't even use her powers. While she was immensely glad to discover that Alex was still alive, she had been horrified at the state he'd been in before Meth had healed him…but Meth was on Bishop's side, so Tobi knew better than to think the gesture was one of kindness.

Sighing heavily, Tobi threw herself on her bed. What if Magneto refused to hand over the file, leaving them all at Bishop's mercy? The mutant would kill them, of that Tobi was certain…and she was sure that she would be the last one Bishop would kill, because he was spiteful.

If she and her friends worked together, Tobi was certain they could overthrow Bishop and his stupid followers, who called themselves the 'Rogues'. Tobi would definitely have a thing or two to say to Elliott about his betrayal – but as it was, they were all kept separate, purposely locked away from each other so they couldn't plot.

Bishop had declared the only reason they were to be let out was for food or to use the bathroom. Tobi had already had her macaroni and cheese, but she was yet to take her shower. Now that Tobi thought about it, perhaps she could find a way out of this without having to talk to the others…because she had a weapon none of the others did.

Tobi crossed over to her chest of drawers and slowly slid the top drawer open. There, nestled among bras and socks, shimmered the burden of her guilt. It belonged to Charles, really…but perhaps it was of more use to Tobi. Feeling a surge of grim apprehension overcoming her, Tobi lifted the revolver from the drawer, examining it. Her lips were pressed together in a firm line and her green eyes sparkled with determination.

Six bullets were more than enough to end Bishop.