S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Col. Nicholas Fury's Office

Nick Fury stopped short when he walked into his office and saw a redheaded woman sitting at his desk with her feet propped up and a cigar in her mouth. "Outta my chair, Mackenzie."

The redhead just stared at Nick, taking another drag off the cigar she was smoking.

"C'mon, up. And that was one of my best cigars."

"I know." She kicked a file on his desk with the heel of her shoe. "What's this?"

"What's what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Nick," she said, standing up and grabbing the file. She carried it over to Nick and thrust it at his chest. "What's this?"

"Oh, this? This is the file with the orders I was about to hand down to you before you came into my office and rifled through my things."

"I didn't rifle through your things," Mackenzie said, waving the cigar in the air. "I came in here looking for you and saw a file with my name on it on your desk."

"So you read it."

"Of course. And I'm not taking that assignment."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Look, Mackenzie, this matter was brought to the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I have to make sure we play some part in it. I need an agent on this mission, and I need it to be you."

"Why me, huh? Look, I know I said I wanted you to give me more field work, but this? This is just asking for trouble."

"I need you because you grew up there! You know the area, Mac, better than any other agent I have.

"It's not that I don't want to be there, Nick. You know as well as anyone how homesick I get anyway. It just, well, I don't want to work with them."

"I've worked with the X-Men plenty of times in the past. It's not so bad."

"Yeah, and I've heard the stories you've told about working with super hero groups. That doesn't sound like a good time to me."

"So what, you signed up for S.H.I.E.L.D. to have fun?"

"No! But, I didn't sign up for it to follow a bunch of mutants through East Texas either!"

"Too bad. You're going, end of story. Either get your ass to Westchester A.S.A.P. or turn in your badge. It's your choice, Mackenzie."

"You wouldn't fire me."

"Wanna try me?"

"I'm going to hate you forever for this."

"You'll get over it."

"Fine. But I'm keeping the cigar." Mac stormed out of the office.

"Kids," Nick muttered under his breath before sitting down at his desk and propping his feet up much the way Mackenzie had been doing before.

*** *** ***

Victoria Creed sat in the main room of the mansion, watching television. The doorbell kept ringing, and it was really starting to annoy her. Hard to enjoy watching random things blowing up when you kept hearing bells. "Isn't anyone going to get that?" Vicky muttered.

Finally, Vicky decided none of the "real" X-Men were going to answer the door. "Fine. I'll do it," she said, getting up and walking the couple of feet to the door. She threw it open. "What?"

A woman only an inch or so shorter than Vicky with long, red hair and blue eyes was on the other side. She was dressed in a light blue, obviously expensive, business suit. "Is this the home of the X-Men."

"No. It's one of the random other mansions out in the middle of nowhere with a big sign out front that says "Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning."

The redhead reached into her jacket and pulled out a badge. "Agent Mackenzie Fury. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Vicky raised an eyebrow. "Any relation to any other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents named Fury?"

"He's my father. Now if you don't mind, Miss Creed, I'd like to come in and talk to whoever's in charge around here."

"That would be Rebecca. And how did you know who I am?"

"It's my job to know." Mackenzie put her badge back in her jacket pocket. "Now can I come in?"

"Uh, sure, yeah." Vicky let Mac in and then walked over to the edge of the stairs. "Rebecca, visitor!" she yelled up the stairs.

Rebecca walked down a few moments later. "May I help you?"

"Mac Fury. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. I was sent down here because there have been reports of a mutant referring to himself as Magneto forming a group of what we suspect to be mutant terrorists. Col. Fury wanted me to ask y'all to come with me to Wills Point, Texas—where this 'Magneto' guy is—and try to stop him before things get out of hand."

Rebecca frowned. "Do you have any information on him other than the fact he is calling himself Magneto?"

"Some of our agents reported that he does have powers similar to Magneto, and that his hair is white. Other than that, they couldn't come up with much of anything."

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. want us to do about it?" Rebecca asked.

"Go down there and stop him, like I said. Y'all call yourselves the X-Men. If anyone is going to fight someone calling himself Magneto, then it should be you."

"I will have to talk to the other X-Men about this. I cannot simply agree to sending us all somewhere without their permission."

"I understand. Talk to your team. But try not to take too long, all right? The colonel says things are heating up down there."

"I will," Rebecca said. "Some of them are not here at the moment, but I can contact them and get them all home within an hour. Will that suffice?"

"Sounds good to me. I could use a cigarette anyway."

"There's no smoking in the mansion."

"I figured as much," Mac said, rolling her eyes. "But don't tell me you've banned smoking outside, too?"

"As long as you are not in front of any of the mansion's main doorway, it would be fine."

"I'll show you where they usually send us smokers," Vicky said. "It's not the prettiest sport in the world, but it's free from lung-cancer warnings."

"Thanks," Mac said.

"I will let you know when I have the team assembled," Rebecca said.

Mac gave her a nod, and then followed Vicky out to the back of the mansion. "Here. Pollute your lungs all you want here, no one will care. Kristof, Yana, and I all come out here at some point during the day," Vicky said. "I haven't figured out where Logan goes off to pretend she isn't smoking."

"I'm surprised there are so many smokers here," Mac said, shaking a cigarette from her pack. "I would've thought the X-Men would've been more health-conscious than that."

Vicky shrugged as she lit her own cigarette. "Well, it isn't going to hurt me or Logan—healing factors and all. And as far as Kris and Yana, I don't think they particularly care if they live or die. What's your excuse?"

"Somehow whatever's been keeping my father alive for so long worked itself into my genetic make-up. Not much could hurt me, really." Mac frowned, realizing she'd left her lighter in her car. "Got a light?"

"Yeah, sure," Vicky said, tossing her her lighter.

"Nice lighter," Mac said.

"Thanks. I got it off a biker who tried to start something with me," Vicky replied. "So, growing up with Nick Fury as a father. Must've been interesting."

"I wouldn't know," Mac replied, taking a drag. "I didn't know him until I was twenty-two and started working for S.H.I.E.L.D. My mother would never tell me who he was. It's a coincidence that we ended up working together. Guess it was fate or something."

"I still don't know who my mother is," Vicky said, flicking the end of her cigarette. "My father won't tell me. He says I'm better off not knowing."

"He's probably right."

"Still, I wish I knew her."

"I could've gone on just fine not knowing my mother," Mac said. "The Mackenzies—my mother gave me her last name as my first name, evil woman—are a big oil family in East Texas. She wanted me to be a debutant, and was more than a little disappointed when I turned out to be a juvenile delinquent instead."

Vicky laughed. "Well, you seem like you turned out all right to me."

"This coming from the daughter of Victor Creed. I don't think that would assure my mother of very much." Mac paused for a second, and then said. "She's all but disowned me. Most of my family has, except for her parents. I spent most of my childhood at their house out in the country. My mother lived in Dallas, and I'd live with her during school, but she'd send me off the day after school ended. Never wanted to have much to do with me." Mac laughed a little. "I don't know why I just told you that."

Vicky shrugged. "'Cause I'm listening, I guess."

"I'm not bitter, you know," Mac said. "I'm happy. Well, I'm not too happy about having to go deal with some Magneto wannabe in Texas, but it could be worse."

"I've been here a little over a week, and let me tell you, these people are something else," Vicky said. "There's more issues here than at a mental ward. Hell, I'm not this off, and I was raised by a professional hitman. You'd think I'd be the crazy one here."

"Great, now I'm really looking forward to this."

"Hey, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll put this to a vote the way they love to do, and decide against it."

"Put it to a vote?"

"Oh yeah, they vote on everything. I'm surprised they haven't started voting on who cleans the bathrooms yet."

Mac laughed. "Hey, think we should go in and check on things?"

"Sure." Vicky threw her cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. "But don't expect to find anything entertaining. This place is slower than that person who always drives in front of you whenever you're in a hurry."

Mac stood up and put her cigarette out, too. "That's fine with me. Not like things move very fast where we're going if the X-Men agree to go with me on this."

"Trust me," Vicky said with a smirk. "Anything's better than here."

*** *** ***

Mac knew what Vicky had been talking about with the X-Men having to vote on everything now. The X-Men who had been in the mansion or close by when Mac arrived had gathered in the war room, listened to what she had to say, and then had democratically decided whether or not they were going to go with her.  Mac wasn't sure if she was relieved or afraid that they'd agreed to help her.

Now, she was waiting again, this time for the other X-Men to get in so they could form a battle plan. Mac was sitting in the War Room, her chin resting in her hands, wishing whoever wasn't there would hurry up so she could get this over with as soon as possible.

"Who are we waiting for?" Logan asked from the other side of the room. Mac had noticed Logan very obviously getting up and moving to the chair she was in now when Vicky Creed had come into the room and sat beside her, and had filed it away for later. It was always important to know where the divisions were in any team you were working with.

"Craig is not here," Rebecca said. "I believe he is the only one."

"My brother's coming?" Logan asked, obviously surprised.

So Logan had a brother  who, from the sounds of it was somewhat a member of the team, and not someone that Logan was particularly close to. Mac filed that little tidbit away, too. She was beginning to get the impression that there was a lot going on behind the scenes with this team.

Vicky looked up. Obviously as taken aback by what Logan said as Mac had been. "You have a brother?"

Logan glared at Vicky. "Yes, I have a brother. A twenty-six year old half-brother," Logan said, her voice near a growl. Tristan put his hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her.

Craig walked in a few minutes later. And Vicky knew who he was immediately. Despite the fact he was rather tall and had normal hair, there was no mistaking him for anything but Wolverine's son. "Sorry it took me so long to get out here," he said, taking an empty seat. "My boss didn't seem to like the idea of me suddenly leaving without anymore of a reason than 'family emergency,' and traffic was, of course, awful. So what's going on?"

Rebecca gestured to Mac. "This is Mackenzie Fury. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D., and she was sent here to request our help in stopping a mutant in Texas who claims to be Magneto."

Craig sort of raised an eyebrow at that, but his only response was a nod.

"We do not know the extent of the situation—even Mackenzie could only give us some information on the mutant in Texas. Therefore, I think it would be wisest if as much of the team as possible accompanied Ms. Fury, since things could get messy down there. Is there anyone who cannot do this?"

"I'm all for it," Vicky said with the dopiest grin she could manage. "Now that you nice people have let me on the most sacred of all superhero teams—well, excluding the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, of course—I don't want to be anything but a team player!"

Vicky received a mix of looks of distain and stifled laughs.

"Anyone else?" Rebecca asked.

"Hon, where exactly in Texas did you say this is?" Twister asked Rebecca.

"Wills Point."

Twister grew a little pale. "I…I don't know if I should go there."

"Why not?"

"It just isn't a good idea."

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Rebecca asked, standing up. "In the hall."

Twister got out of his chair. "Yeah, sure."

Twister followed Rebecca out of the room, leaving the X-Men to wonder what exactly the two had to discuss. "Does she pull everyone out of the room like that when they disagree with her?" Vicky asked, leaning over to whisper to Kacie.

"No," Kacie whispered back. "She's only doing it to Twister because he's her boyfriend."

"Ah," Vicky said. "Makes sense."

Out in the hallway, Rebecca gave Twister a quizzical look. "Is something wrong? Why can you not come with us?"

"I can't go back there, 'Becca. I can't go through it all again."

"Go back? What are you talking about?"

"I'm from Wills Point," Twister said. "My whole family—they still live there. Hell, I'm the first person in my family to actually leave Van Zandt county in generations. And the last time I saw them, well, they weren't exactly happy with me."

Rebecca put her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "It will be all right. It will not be the same as the last time you were there—I will be with you."

Twister took her hand off his shoulder, but didn't let it go. "That worries me, too, Rebecca. My family, they aren't exactly the most enlightened people in the world. I don't know what they'd do if they saw I was with you."

"What do you mean?"

"They're racist, 'Becca. Extremely racist."

Rebecca pulled her hand away from Twister as if he'd suddenly turned to fire. "Are…are you saying that you do not want to be seen with me because I am black? Are you ashamed of that—of me?"

"No! God, no! How could you think that about me?! There's not a damn thing about you that would make me ashamed of you, especially not your race. It's just…I'm afraid of what they'd do to you. My cousins especially."

Rebecca immediately softened when she heard him voice the real reason for his concern. She took hold of his hand again. "I will be fine, my love." She gave him a small smile. "I can take care of myself. I am the leader of the X-Men, after all."

"I just love you so much, Rebecca. I know you can take care of yourself, but I still worry about something happening to you. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and just hold you because I'm afraid that I might lose you the next day and I'll never be able to again. You're my whole world, Rebecca."

"So be there to protect me."

"I'd rather you weren't there either," Twister admitted. "I'd rather you never had to face any of the things that you do as an X-Man. But I also love you too much to ever ask you to do something like that. You'd resent me for it eventually. This is too much of who you are."

"You know you are my soulmate."

"I know."

"Which is all the more reason why I need you buy my side. In everything I do—including this."

"You're not letting me back out of this are you?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No. Look, odds are, we will not even have to see your family. And if we do, I know you are strong enough to handle it."

Twister nodded, and the two of them walked back into the war room to let the other X-Men know that the team would be unified in this.

*** *** ***

Vicky stood outside the Blackbird, staring at it with a wary eye. It was bad enough that she had to wear one of their god-awful black leather uniforms, but now she had to make like a sardine and cram into that jet with the whole rest of the team?

"Uh, do I really have to fly in that?" Vicky asked.

"Yes," Rebecca replied. "How else do you plan to get to Texas?"

"Um, in a bigger plane?" Vicky offered. "Who's flying that thing anyway?"

"I am," Billy said.

If Vicky had ever prayed in her life, it would've been then.

Mac stopped short right behind Vicky. "Wait…are we all supposed to pile into that?"

Vicky frowned. "Apparently."

"Okay, Nick was right—superheroes are psycho."

Vicky just nodded.

"Oh well, it'll be an…experience…" Mac said.

Another nod from Vicky.

"Come on!" Ric shouted from the Blackbird.

Mac and Vicky looked at each other, shrugged, and boarded the jet.

*** *** ***

More feedback, please! And let me know what you want to see in future chapters! If there's a certain pairing you want, or a character or characters you want to see more (or less…) of, let me know and I'll see what I can do! Just leave me feedback here at fanfiction.net or email me at addie_logan@yahoo.com I'd love to hear what you think!!!