Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I do own Lorelai LeBeau, Monica and Joey Summers, Cindy Drake, Baby Alvers and Dr. Mitchell.


Chapter Fifty – Aftermath

September 5th 1999

"Logan's Run 13; confirmed: Quicksilver, Shadowcat; activate immediately."

As soon as Kitty gave the order, the doors to the Danger Room closed and a soft hum signalled the heightened security.

"What did you just do?" Pietro asked.

"Locked us in here." Kitty told him, taking deep breaths. "Anyone who tries to … get in without the … access codes will be … in big trouble …"

"Who has the access codes?" Pietro frowned.

"Just Lexa …" Kitty grabbed his hand. "Dammit …"

Pietro pushed his thoughts away from the Danger Room for now and wrapped an arm around her waist, helping her sink to the floor. "Just take deep breaths, Kit-Kat; you're alright."

"Pietro, I think the baby's coming …" Kitty whispered shakily.

"Yeah, Kit-Kat, I know." Pietro soothed, brushing the hair out of her face.

"No, the baby's coming now." Kitty repeated. "I think I need to start pushing."

"But … but Lexa said you were only three centimetres dilated or something!" Pietro protested.

"Yeah, well, the other seven just followed!" Kitty let out a groan as another contraction hit her.

"Okay, sweetheart, you need to let go of my hand for second, okay?" Pietro managed to get her to loosen her grip and knelt down, trying not to think too hard about what he was looking at. "Oh crap." He muttered, realising that she was right. "I suppose it's too late to cross your legs and hold it in?"

"Not helping!" Kitty snapped through gritted teeth.

"Okay, breathe … breathe … breathe …" Pietro instructed calmly. "Good girl. Now what do you need me to do?"

"Just guide the baby out." Kitty sighed. "Great; I've got to coach my own midwife."

"Why aren't male assistants called mid-husbands?" Pietro asked rhetorically, trying to follow her instructions without touching … anything. "Okay, there's a head … Oh my God, Kitty, it's huge; how are you doing this?"

"What was the point of that?" Kitty demanded in a yell as another contraction hit her.

"You're doing fine." Pietro assured her. "Just keep going, sweetheart; you're alright. We have a head, shoulders, arms …" he paused "… ten fingers … oh, they're tiny; look at that …"

"Yeah, I'm not really in a position where I can." Kitty reminded him, tensing.

"Right, chest, stomach," Pietro grinned. "It's a boy; definitely a boy! Legs, knees and feet …" He pulled the baby clear instinctively and cradled him as he began crying.

"Is he alright?" Kitty asked weakly.

"He's fine, Kit-Kat." Pietro told her. He tore his eyes away from the baby and his blood ran cold. "Kitty … are you supposed to be bleeding?"

"A little bit … Not much …" Kitty's face was pale and her words were slurred slightly. "I can feel something healing … why is something healing?"

"Kit-Kat, don't panic, but I think something's wrong." Pietro told her calmly, though he was anything but.

Kitty struggled to sit up and settled instead for gesturing him closer. Pietro moved to her side, holding the baby so she could see him.

A smile graced her face and she reached out to touch her son's cheek. "His name's Liam." She murmured. "Liam Daniel Alvers." Her focus shifted to Pietro. "You'll look after him, won't you?"

Liam's screams escalated and Pietro adjusted his grip, trying to soothe him. "Kit-Kat, you're gonna be fine, alright?"

Kitty grasped his hand, her eyes searching his. "Promise me, Pietro. Promise me you'll look after him."

Pietro squeezed her hand. "I promise, Kitty."

Her grip loosened suddenly, her eyes closed and her body relaxed all at once.

"Kitty?" Pressing two shaking fingers against her wrist, Pietro was relieved to find a pulse, but it was weak and feeble. "Oh no. Kitty, don't do this. Please." He stood carefully, still trying to calm the screaming, naked baby in his arms, but before he could do anything, a cool female voice sounded through the Danger Room.

"Logan's Run 13: overridden."

Pietro tensed, as the door slid open and Lexa staggered in, Lorelai clinging to her, both of them drenched in blood.

His heart clenched painfully. "Lexa!"

"It's alright." Lexa called, rocking Lorelai soothingly. "It's not our blood."

"Yeah, that makes it all better." Pietro muttered. "Kitty's had the baby; she's bleeding heavily and I don't think she's breathing."

Lexa let Lorelai slide to the floor – though the little girl continued to cling to her leg – and took the baby from Pietro. "Name?" She asked briskly, cutting the cord.

"Liam Daniel Alvers." Pietro repeated.

"Don't just stand there." Lexa chided. "Get Kitty to the hospital; tell them Dr. Mitchell was an undercover agent for a renegade government group and that you're unable to answer any questions. I'll sort this out."

"Lex, what if he wakes up?" Pietro asked.

Lexa refused to meet his gaze. "That's not an issue anymore. Go."

Pietro was worried, but knew Kitty was his priority right now. Scooping her into his arms, he raced off.

Lexa watched them go, then turned her attention to the two children, trying to ignore the pool of blood on the floor. She crouched down so she was eye-level with Lorelai, who was still clutching her pant leg. "Lorie, this is Liam. Auntie Kitty's not very well, sweetheart, so I need you to be a very brave big girl for me. Can you do that?"

Logically, she knew that Lorelai couldn't yet really understand the depth of what was being said to her, but her calm, level tone calmed the young girl enough to coax her into loosening her grip, which allowed Lexa to pick the toddler up and set her on her hip and still manage to hold onto a still screaming Liam. She took the two children to the infirmary and deposited Lorelai into the emergency playpen.

Distracted by the toys, Lorelai settled down to play and Lexa breathed a sigh of relief, before opening the infirmary fridge.

The contents were divided in two. At the top, Belladonna kept various blood samples and medicines, all meticulously labelled and ordered. At the bottom were sterilised bottles of milk, most of it breast milk, but, thankfully, a couple of formula milk, since Jean wasn't always able to feed both twins.

Quickly heating it in a nearby microwave – kept there for that very purpose – Lexa tested checked the temperature and managed to convince Liam to take the bottle.

Once the newborn had been fed and winded and settled down to sleep, Lexa slipped the baby monitor into her pocket and jogged down to the control room.

Inputting the password and data she needed, Lexa found herself gazing at the SHIELD security room, where a solitary guard sat, leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the desk, a cup of coffee in one hand and a magazine in the other, paying absolutely no attention to the monitors.

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Picture of alertness, you are."

Startled, the man fell back off his chair, the coffee spilling down on him. Cursing under his breath, he got to his feet. "Who the hell …?"

"Just tell General Fury that Lexa needs to speak to him, there's a good boy." Lexa told him lazily, propping her feet up. "I'd get yourself a good dry-cleaner while you're at it."

Within minutes, Fury had arrived, but turned almost immediately to roll his eyes at the door. "Dammit, Michaels, you said it was an emergency." He sat down. "Why have you hacked our security system?"

"It was quicker than using the phone-book." Lexa dead-panned. "Why wasn't I informed that HYDRA had restarted the Weapon X project? Or re-restarted, I suppose I should say."

"They've done what?" Fury demanded. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, the agent in our living room who wanted to turn my best friend's son into X-24 might have something to do with it." Lexa answered, trying to stay calm.

Fury sighed, rubbing her temples. "Right, get her to a …"

"Too late." Lexa interrupted. "She had the baby about an hour ago; she's in the hospital."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "What about the agent?"

"Dead." Lexa stated, her voice shaking only slightly. "There was another child in the house; he'd knocked me out. I reached them just as he was about to inject … God only knows what was in that syringe."

"It wouldn't have killed …" Fury began.

"If you think for one second," Lexa said slowly, "that I am going to stand back and let them do this …" she held up her hand and unleashed her claws once more "… to another child, you are sadly mistaken. Do you have any idea how painful it is for a start?" She retracted them and rubbed her knuckles. "What do you want me to do with the body? There's a sentence I never wanted to have to say again."

"First of all, where's the baby?" Fury asked, ignoring her muttered comment.

"Asleep." Lexa held the baby monitor up. "Took me a while, but we got there eventually."

"I thought you weren't a baby person." Fury commented.

"I'm not usually." Lexa admitted. "But … Wait." She suddenly remembered the only time she'd ever said those words. "Did you tap my mother's phone?"

Fury cleared his throat. "It's a security matter."

"Of course it is." Lexa rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't think I was a baby person, but that is beside the point. The point is, I have a dead body in our living room; now what the hell do I do with it?"

Fury pulled out a radio. "This is HQ. Medic required for Xavier Institute, Bayville, New York; we have a DOA."

"Copied. Flight 807 en route."

"Copy that." Fury switched the radio off. "All you have to do is wait. And use the damn phone next time!"

"Yes, sir!" Lexa saluted and shut off the connection. She had just reached the entrance hall, the baby monitor still fixed to her belt, when Pietro reappeared, but he wasn't alone. "Oh, hey, Amanda." She looked her over. "Is it raining?"

"No." Amanda answered sarcastically. "I just decided to go swimming with my clothes on." She glanced sideways and paled. "Er … do you two know there's a body in your living room?"

"No, but hum a few bars and I'll give it a shot." Pietro responded.

Lexa swatted his arm with a scowl. "This is not the time for jokes, Pietro. Yes, Amanda, we know and there are people on the way to remove him. Pietro, Liam's asleep in the infirmary and I've left Lorie in the playpen; can you go and watch them please?"

"Sure, hun." Pietro kissed her cheek as he sped away.

"You know, I could've done that." Amanda told her, determinedly turning her back on the living room.

"I know." Lexa smiled, albeit weakly. "But Pietro's worried about me. And the second he asks if I'm okay, I'll fall apart. I don't have time to fall apart; I'll fall apart later."

Amanda chuckled and followed her out of the front door and back into the driving rain. "Is Kurt around?"

"They're all over in Egypt." Lexa told her. "Between us, state secret and all, there's been some strange disturbances round the Sphinx. We're worried it might be Apocalypse again."

"Well, shit." Amanda summarised. "So why aren't you out there."

"I'm looking after Kitty. And Lorelai and Liam." Lexa answered. "Hence the body in the living room. Here they come."

"Where?" Amanda searched the sky. "I can't see anything."

Lexa smirked slightly. "Enhanced senses, remember?" She pointed to the helijet that had just appeared through a gap in the clouds. "Incoming."

"So it is." Amanda nodded.

"Your parents know you're here?" Lexa asked curiously.

"Oh, they know." Amanda smiled humourlessly. "They're not happy, but they know."

Lexa frowned, taking her eyes off the jet to focus on the other girl. "So what was with the whole 'sneaking-around-they-can't-know-where-I-am' thing?"

"Well, back then, they were really unhappy about it." Amanda shrugged. "But that was all. I mean, I knew this cruise was to try and draw me away from Kurt and you guys, but they spent the entire time trying to set me up with different guys we 'accidentally' bumped in to. This morning, after we got back, I told them I wasn't blind and I'd had it. I love Kurt and if they wanted me to stick around now I'm 18, they'd just have to deal with it."

"And they agreed?" Lexa asked, surprised.

Amanda smiled weakly. "No, I need a place to stay."

"Explains the suitcase in the hall." Lexa raised her voice to be heard over the sound of the jet engines. "Well, you know you're always welcome here."

"Thanks." Amanda responded, stepping back with her as the helijet landed, and the hatch opened to reveal two SHIELD agents who jumped out.

Lexa nodded to them. "Afternoon, boys."

Despite her being an ally, it was clear from the way that they leapt to attention that these men clearly saw her as their superior.

Either that, or they were still terrified of her.

Taking into account that they had come to collect a dead body, she guessed it was the latter.

Pretending she hadn't noticed, she led the two men into the mansion, explaining what had happened.

It wasn't until they reached the living room that she stopped, staring at the body in front of her.

After it had happened, she had thought only of getting Lorelai as far away from him as possible; she hadn't looked back or bothered checking a pulse.

She was a HYDRA-trained assassin after all; she knew what it was like to watch the life drain from someone's eyes and he hadn't looked away, still smirking as though she'd just proven them right.

He was lying on his back now, three spots of dark blood on his hospital scrubs, his eyes glassy and unseeing, the ghost of that last smirk on his face.

But HYDRA wasn't right and Lexa wasn't that weapon anymore; as she looked at him, she felt her legs seize up as her companions seemed to vanish, even as one of them caught her arm to steady her.

What if he's got a wife, waiting for him to come home? What if he's got children? What if his parents had no idea what he did?

The air around her grew heavy and she struggled for breath.

A cool glass was pressed into her hand and she drank, grateful for the icy water that slid down her throat, freeing the tight constraints around her chest.

The room came back into focus and she realised that she had sunk into one of the armchairs, Amanda hovering at her side, while the agents crouched beside the body.

"Thanks." She whispered. "I don't know what happened."

"You're human." Amanda perched on the arm of the chair. "If I'd just killed someone, I wouldn't be nearly as calm as you."

"I'm not calm." Lexa retorted with a weak smile. "I'm a good actress."

"Uh oh." One of the agents muttered.

"What is it?" Lexa asked, tensing.

"I know his wife." He answered. "She works for us. Oh, she's gonna be pissed."

"Just as long as she doesn't direct that at me." Lexa groaned. "Tell me they haven't got children."

"They don't." He informed her.

"That's good." Lexa murmured.

"She's not gonna want to believe it though." The second agent. "Those cameras work?"

"Yeah." Lexa drained her glass and stood up. "I'll take you down to the security centre."


"Lex? Lex? Lex? Lexa!"

Curled up on the couch, Lexa didn't hear the first few calls of her name, but the last startled her out of her thoughts and she glanced up to see Pietro crouching next to her, looking concerned. "Hey, sweetheart. Where's Kitty?"

"Infirmary." Pietro answered. "The doctors checked her over; by the time I got her there, the problem had healed itself. Since all they'd be doing is waiting for her to wake up, I discharged her and brought her back here; she'll want to be near her son. Do you think we should call the others?"

Lexa thought for a second. "No." She decided. "They need to stay focused. We've got things covered here."

"Your call." Pietro sat down, putting an arm around her, and she leaned against him. "You okay?"

"I've been better." Lexa admitted in a small voice.

"You did what you had to, Lex." Pietro told her, kissing her forehead. "God only know what would have happened."

"I don't regret it." Lexa whispered. "I mean, I regret that he died. I regret that right now a woman is being told that her husband's not coming home, that he was working against everything she was fighting for. But I don't regret protecting the children."

"I would've done the same thing." Pietro admitted. "Only it wouldn't have been as clean."

"Trained assassin." Lexa reminded him wearily, curling into his side. She was silent for a few minutes, fighting with the need to ask him.

It won.

"Do you think any less of me for killing him?" She blurted out.

Pietro gaped at her for a second. "How could you even think that?" He didn't miss her flinch at the loud question and softened his voice, realising that the day's events had broken through the last of the walls she still insisted on keeping up. "Lexa, he put you in a terrible situation and left you with no choice." He kissed her forehead and helped her up. "C'mon. We should turn in while we can."

"Good point." Lexa slipped her hand into his as they made their way up the staircase. "I feel like I haven't slept in a week."

"More like three days." Pietro corrected with a smirk.

They reached her room and she pushed the door open, letting her hair out of its band. "You gonna stand in the doorway all night, Quicksilver?"

"Just making sure you want me to stay." Pietro responded, as he did every night.

Lexa glanced over her shoulder. "Can I borrow your shirt?"

Without question, Pietro pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it to her. This was a break from their normal routine and he was surprised when she didn't disappear into her bathroom. Instead she turned away from him and pulled her own shirt off.

Pietro would have tried not to focus on the view this presented him with, even if she was facing the other way, just out of respect for her. But he didn't have to try very hard: one long thin white scar stretched diagonally across her back, marring her perfect skin.

A second later, it disappeared as she slid his shirt on, and she slipped her pants off as well, though his shirt was long on her.

Lexa knew he'd seen it, because, however much he'd tried to hide it, she'd caught the sharp intake of breath from behind her. She didn't address it just yet, fiddling with her bra strap beneath the thin cotton, until it parted and she could slip it off.

Even then, she didn't turn to face him, taking care in folding the clothing she'd removed, so she didn't have to meet his gaze.

"Go on." She prompted, when the silence got a little too heavy. "I know you want to say something."

"Why?" Pietro asked in a whisper. He didn't bother asking what had caused it; that was glaringly obvious.

"I don't know." Lexa admitted. "I did … something wrong, in their eyes."

There were soft footsteps behind her and she felt his hand press lightly against her back. "How many times?" His voice was low and filled with an anger she knew wasn't aimed at her.

"I lost count." Lexa whispered. "They were experimenting that time; trying to find some way of slowing my healing abilities. It's the only time it scarred."

"Did Dr. Risman know?" Pietro asked quietly.

"No." Lexa whispered.

"Wolverine?"

"No." Lexa repeated, even quieter. "And I don't want him to."

Pietro put his hands on her waist and turned her to face him, leaning in to kiss her softly. "I love you, Lexa. I am never going to let them hurt you again."

Lexa leaned into his embrace not bothering to point out that she could take care of herself. Though independence was, she knew, sought desperately by most women her age, she had had enough of it and was content to finally have someone to lean on.


AN: Review please!