Todd Takes Charge

A few minutes later Todd and a very haggard Lance walked back into the room. "Lance?" Pietro asked gently. "Are you okay?"

Lance shook his head. "Lance needs a lot of help," Todd explained. "Magneto really did a number on him."

"Wasn't exactly treating me with kid gloves either," Pietro grumbled.

"Shut up Pietro!" Wanda snapped. "What's wrong with him?"

"He just needs to…rest for a bit," Todd chose his words carefully. "Needs some time to himself. I'll talk to Lifeline and Psyche-Out about it. Don't worry."

"What do you mean?" Pietro snapped. "What are they gonna do to him?"

"Nothing that I haven't already been through myself," Todd told him.

"You're asking Lance to voluntarily put himself in some kind of…" Pietro struggled to think of the right words. "Isolation? Who knows what they'll do to him there! What if he's brainwashed or something?"

"Look," Todd said. "They don't do that here, okay? How many freaking times do I have to tell ya that? If you're really worried we'll use Polly to check up on him."

"Polly?" Wanda asked. "You mean that insane feather duster?"

"Sure," Todd nodded "We just send him over to check things out and if Lance needs anything he'll send us a message. No problem. I've done it before."

"Well that does make sense," Fred scratched his head.

"Nothing makes sense!" Pietro snapped. "I can't believe you are all talking about trusting humans! Don't you remember what happened in Chicago? What those cops did to that mutant? Or did they not tell you about that Toad?"

"I haven't forgotten that," Todd told him. "I remember talking to Psyche-Out about that. I will never forget that. But that doesn't mean that every human is out to kill us. I mean the Joes are proof of that!"

"The only proof I see is that they've totally brainwashed you," Pietro grumbled.

"I'm gonna forget you said that Pietro cause you don't know no better," Todd told him. "But I don't want to hear any more garbage like that from you again! You hear me? These people are putting a lot on the line for you so zip your lip!"

"What do you mean?" Fred asked.

"Didn't it ever occur to you guys that legally we ain't supposed to be here?" Todd told them. "The government has a certain department to study mutants, but the Joes don't want us to be studied or worse!"

"What?" Pietro blinked. "I don't get it. Why are they keeping us here then?"

"Because they don't want us to get hurt that's why!" Todd snapped.

"Why would humans care about mutants?" Fred asked.

"A long time ago there was this Cobra lab on this island called Moreausseau," Todd told them. "They did terrible things there. I don't know exactly what they were but from what I sniffed out it was pretty bad. The Joes liberated that island and saw for themselves what happened. There were only a handful of survivors. But that ain't the worst of it."

"What happened?" Pietro asked, dreading what was coming.

"There was this other general see," Todd's eyes narrowed. "He was put in charge of the survivors. He told Hawk he was gonna look after them but instead he killed them. That really made Hawk mad, not to mention the rest of the Joes. From that day on they swore that would never happen again. These people have seen too much death and destruction to wish that on any mutant."

Todd stood up straight. "Listen up. I'm making a decision here. Magneto's tried to split us up time and time again, but he hasn't succeeded. And I'll be damned if we get spilt up now. The best way for all of us is to stay together here. Yeah there are rules and these guys are strict. But they ain't gonna beat us here. And they want us to stay together. So here's what I'm gonna do." He looked at Lance. "Lance ain't in no shape to lead us, and you haven't done that great a job Pietro." At this Pietro turned his head away. "So as of now…I'm in charge. Capice?"

"You?" Fred looked at him. "Our leader?"

"Yeah," Todd snapped. "For now anyway. Until either Lance gets better or someone else is put in charge."

"Why you?" Pietro asked.

"Because I know the score around here," Todd looked at him straight in the eye. "I know what's expected of us and what we're supposed to do and what we're not supposed to do! And don't think for a moment they're gonna go easy on us. They may not wanna hit us, but they have ways of making us work our butts off if you get my drift! I know who to talk to and trust and who to stay away from. So if you wanna make this stay as painless as possible, you are gonna listen to me and do what I say! Got it?"

Todd glared at a silent Pietro. "I mean it Pietro," Todd told him. "I ain't gonna have you disrespecting my friends. I have no problem with giving you a few whacks myself if you act up! I know you. The last thing you need is to cop an attitude around here!"

Pietro frowned and looked away. "Look at me Pietro!" Todd said, a newfound authority in his voice. Pietro reluctantly looked at him. "Don't you want to get better? What about Lance and Wanda? Don't you want them to get well too?"

"Yeah," Pietro said quietly.

"And don't forget Freddy," Todd reminded him. "You remember when he was captured by Trask? Do you want him to end up in a government lab someplace? Do you?"

"No," Pietro shook his head.

Todd's voice softened. "Believe me Pietro, I know exactly how you're feeling. All the more reason you have to trust me. I've been there myself. Do you know what I'm saying?"

"Okay," Pietro sighed. "You win. We stay here."

"And?" Todd folded his arms.

"And…I'll behave myself," Pietro groaned. "Satisfied Fearless Leader?"

"Yeah," Todd lightly punched him in the arm. "Now I'm gonna hold you to that."

"So what's gonna happen now?" Wanda asked.

"Well they're probably gonna make you and Pietro stay in the hospital wing for a bit," Todd scratched his head. "Freddy will stay with me and Lance…" He stopped and looked at Lance. "Lance?"

Lance looked up. Todd walked over to him. "This ain't gonna be easy," Todd told him. "There's gonna be nights when you think you wanna die. I know. Your body will be pushed to the limit during the day and your mind will be pushed to the limit at night. But you have to do it in order to get well again. Understand?"

Lance turned his head away, ashamed of how weak he had become. "It's your decision Lance," Todd said gently. "Nobody's gonna force you."

"I…" Lance looked at him. "I want to get better. I…I need help."

"Good," Todd nodded. "It's gonna be okay. I guess I'd better tell all of you that they're gonna make you see the shrink here. But he's a good guy. So don't worry about it."

"We know," Pietro said. "They told us."

"There's something else you ought to know," Todd sighed. "Sooner or later they wanna know what went on in that Asteroid M up there. Magneto's plans, who his allies are, his technology, the works. You guys are gonna feel like the biggest rats in history but you gotta tell them everything. You can't let Magneto get away with what he did to you. Understand?"

"Yeah," Wanda sighed. "We understand Toad. We'll tell them what they wanna know."

"Okay," Todd nodded. "Guys, I'm gonna take Lance to see Lifeline now. You probably won't see him for a little while. But it won't be long. I promise. Just you know…"

"Yeah," Pietro nodded. "Take it easy Lance. Okay?"

"Just get better," Wanda told him. "We want you back."

"I'm gonna miss you!" Fred hugged him gently.

"I'll miss you too," Lance sniffed.

"Aw come on, he ain't leaving forever yo," Todd told them. "It won't be long. I promise. Come on buddy," He gently led Lance down the hall.

************************************************************************

"And as you can see for yourself General there is evidence of previous beatings not too long ago," Lifeline showed Hawk the folder. Lifeline had been going over his report on the former members of the Brotherhood with him. "There are even some evidence of burn marks on their backs. Some kind of electric object was applied to them."

"Animals," Hawk clenched his fists in fury. "Those monsters! When I get my hands on them…"

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Hawk said. He looked in surprise as Todd and Lance walked in. "Did you decide yet?"

"They're gonna stay general," Todd told them. "Don't worry. I explained things to them real good."

"I see," Hawk nodded. He looked at Lance. Something was clearly wrong with him. "Something wrong kid?"

Lance looked up. "I…I need help," He said hesitantly. "Please."

"Lance is real messed up yo," Todd said. "You gotta do something. Like what you did for me."

"Lance," Lifeline put a hand on his shoulder. "Would you like to sit down for a while?"

Lance nodded feebly and sat down. Lifeline hit his communicator. "Psyche-Out, Spirit I'd like to talk to you for a bit if I may."

"We will be right there," Spirit's voice rang over the communicator.

"Toad, General if you don't mind," Lifeline said.

"Of course," Hawk nodded. He looked at Lance and gently put his hand on his shoulder. "You're doing the right thing son. It will be hard, but if anyone can help you, we will. I promise."

"Don't worry," Lifeline told him. "He'll be in good hands."

"That's right," Todd gave Lance a hug. "Now you be good okay Buddy? I'll see you around. Remember what I told you. Now I'm gonna hold you to that promise, okay?"

Lance nodded. "Good," Todd said. "See ya buddy." He went off with Hawk.

"He's gonna be okay right?" Todd asked Hawk as they walked down the corridor. "You're gonna help him like you helped me?"

"Of course we will," Hawk told him.

"Don't be too mad at them for acting up and stuff," Todd told him. "They don't know no better. They have trouble believing that humans can be nice. Like I was."

"I remember," Hawk nodded.

"Don't worry," Todd said. "I straightened them out. They'll be good. Even Pietro. Course, he may not last long, knowing him. But if he does I'll straighten him out!"

"Really? That's good to know," Hawk looked at him wryly. "You really care about them don't you?"

"Before Roadblock and Althea and everyone, they were the only family I ever knew," Todd told him. "They ain't bad. Really they're not. They just don't know anything else that's all. They made a lot of mistakes but…deep down, they ain't evil or anything."

"I know Toad," Hawk put his hand on his shoulder. "We'll do what we can to straighten them out. I promise."

Next up: Fred's first day of training. Lots of fun and new friends for Freddy! Oh yeah, and a few things get wrecked as well.