Coming Together, Falling Apart

Pietro awoke from the nightmare with a yelp. He sat there shaking. It had all seemed so real. In his dream he was calling for his father, only to be thrown off a cliff by him. He fought back the tears in his eyes.

What's wrong with you Pietro? Father…Magneto taught you never to cry. Not to feel anything. And now here I am about to bawl like a baby. What's wrong with me? Just because my father tried to kill me? No, he's not my father anymore. He tried to kill me. If that isn't the ultimate act of being disowned I don't know what is!

"Pietro?"

He looked up and saw Lifeline. "Bad dream?" Lifeline asked softly.

Pietro nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked the boy.

"No," Pietro shuddered. "I just can't go back to sleep now."

"If you'd like I can use my abilities to try and calm you down," Lifeline offered.

"What are you going to do?"

"Just give you a brief back rub while using my abilities," Lifeline explained. "I find it sometimes helps after nightmares."

"Okay," Pietro sighed. "Why not?"

Pietro felt Lifeline's soothing touch on his brow. He felt warm and safe. He allowed him to remove his shirt and turned over on his stomach. Gently Lifeline traced the outlines of the scars on his back, causing them to melt and disappear beneath his glowing fingers. The gentle massage combined with Lifeline's healing abilities began to work.

Pietro made soft mewing sounds of contentment. He was no longer afraid. In fact he felt safe. Safer than he had been in a long time. There was something about the gentle medic that made him feel like he was with a loving parent instead of a stranger. Just now he was starting to believe that these people really cared about him and didn't see him as a weapon or a potential threat.

Lifeline then stopped and helped him put his shirt back on. "Do you want me to sit with you?" He asked.

Pietro nodded with an affirmative whimper. Lifeline wrapped the boy in a blanket and let him snuggle close to him, like a small child clinging to his parent for comfort. Pietro trusted the medic's comforting embrace, and soon fell asleep.

Lifeline put his hand on the boy's forehead. No sign of a fever yet. He breathed a sigh of relief. He tucked Pietro back in. This wasn't going to be easy. And he had a feeling the worst was yet to come.

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In the conference room the next day Hawk was with Roadblock, Shipwreck and the Blind Master. They were planning strategy on putting the team together.

"So let me get this straight, you assigned Low Light to our little family?" Shipwreck blinked. "Mister Personality himself?"

"I have my reasons," Hawk told him. "He'll be helpful keeping an eye on the kids. Plus if the worst happens, he can protect them."

"Well I want to have Lifeline and Bree be at the very least part time associated," Roadblock said. "They seem to have a connection with the kids. Not to mention a medical background that could help. Too bad they can't be full time."

"They're too valuable here," Hawk shrugged. "But they and a lot of other Joes can help out from time to time. Have the kids have some one on one training sessions with them."

"Hopefully that will work a lot better than with the X-Men," Roadblock groaned. "Are we done then?"

"Well let's see," Hawk consulted his notes. "With you and Shipwreck as the primary parents, The Blind Master as their main teacher, Low Light as their protector and since Spirit has a psychology degree he can be the social worker that should do it."

"We're forgetting something," Shipwreck said. "They also need a mama."

"A what?" Hawk blinked.

"We need at least one female Joe full time," Shipwreck said. "I need help with my girls. They're growing up too fast and wild. And don't forget Wanda."

"The boys could use a little feminine influence as well," Roadblock nodded. "But who? Scarlet?"

"She's too valuable an agent for full time," Hawk said. "And that goes for nearly all the females on the base. Bree's the only one I think that can take the job. Of course I don't know how that would work since she would have to live with the kids and that would mean Lifeline would have to live there as well. Logistically it may be impossible."

"What we need is a strong woman who likes the kids but can keep them in line," The Blind Master thought out loud. "This is not going to be easy…"

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That afternoon Pietro rested in his bed. Although his leg was now healed, his body still hadn't fully recovered. He had been exhausted all morning and was just now getting some of his strength back. To pass the time, he and Wanda had been playing some board games.

"HA HA! PARK PLACE IS MINE!" Wanda crowed.

"Not again!" Pietro groaned.

"Face it brother, I am the Monopoly Queen!" Wanda smiled. "Bow down before my greatness!"

"Well if there's any doubt that you two are related that should remove it," Althea smirked as she came in. Fred and Todd were behind her.

"Hey there," Wanda waved. "It's good to see you guys!"

"Yeah it's especially good to see Pietro's still here," Fred snickered.

"You heard?" Pietro gulped.

"Oh yeah," Todd glared at him.

"Somebody's in trouble!" Wanda snickered.

"I can't believe you did something so stupid!" Todd snapped. "I thought Lance was the only one with rocks in his head!"

"I freaked out okay!" Pietro defended himself.

"Pietro you have to be good!" Todd snapped. "I told you to give this place a chance and what's the first thing you do? You try to skip out on us!"

"I'm sorry!" Pietro snapped hotly. "I wasn't thinking! I'm an idiot! There, are you happy?"

"Well now that we all agree on that," Althea sighed. "How are you guys doing this morning?"

"Okay I guess," Wanda sighed. "It's kind of dull lying around here all day."

"Enjoy it while you can," Althea told her. "Trust me, you'll be busy soon enough."

"I can't believe I'm so weak and tired," Pietro said.

"It's the drugs being drained out of your systems," Althea told him. "Some of the effects may last permanently though."

"Like with Lance?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah," Todd nodded. "Lifeline said you're not as bad though."

"Magneto really did a number on him didn't he?" Pietro choked. "It's all my fault if…"

"Pietro stop that!" Wanda snapped. "It's as much my fault as yours following that logic. I knew what he was doing too. I think even before you did."

"What?" Todd asked.

"I caught Mystique coming out of Lance's room one night," Wanda sighed. "She didn't see me but it looked like she had something in her hand. I didn't put two and two together until later when I heard he was supposed to be dead. I don't know why I didn't say anything. Maybe I was hoping I imagined it. But deep down I knew. I knew he was drugging us again."

"Again?" Althea asked. "You mean your old man did this to you before?"

Wanda nodded. "Yeah, that's how my powers ended up getting out of control in the first place. I was so angry with him hurting us…" She closed her eyes. "So you see Pietro I am just as responsible as you are. Maybe even more."

"Don't say things like that!" Pietro snapped. "At least you had the guts to fight back!"

"Yeah and look where that got me!" Wanda said.

"Listen Wanda," Althea put a comforting hand on her shoulder. " And this goes for you two Pietro, you are not responsible for what your father did! He's the one who decided to do the experiments. Not you. Take it from me, you can't blame yourself for the actions of your father. Trust me, I know from experience! You should see some of the crazy stuff my dad has done!"

"Yeah but your dad's the good kind of crazy," Fred told her. "I mean he has to be with your sisters around."

"You have a point," Althea agreed.

"Where are your sisters?" Wanda asked Althea.

"Oh still doing a few chores around the house," Althea grinned.

"Yeah they tried to get us all in trouble but it backfired on them," Fred said. "Big time!"

"What happened?" Wanda asked.

"They were playing with dynamite again," Althea explained. "When they'd been forbidden too. They tricked Fred here into helping them."

"Yeah and then the little brats tried to get Althea and me in trouble by spreading lies!" Todd snapped.

"Whoa back up," Pietro blinked. "Dynamite?"

"They like to make explosives," Althea sighed. "Don't ask me why!"

"Why do I have the feeling living with all of you is going to be even crazier than the Brotherhood was?" Wanda groaned.

There was a knock at the door. They saw a pretty woman with auburn hair at the door. "Hi Cover Girl!" Althea waved.

"Hey!" Cover Girl smiled. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," Todd smiled. "Guys this is Cover Girl, she works on tanks and the spaceship!"

"Spaceship?" Pietro raised an eyebrow.

"I'll explain later," Althea told him.

"Lifeline thought it would be a good idea if all of you got some fresh air while you are visiting," Cover Girl explained. "It's a nice day and the ground is dried off so we thought a picnic on the common ground would be nice for you."

"We get to all sit outside?" Todd asked. "Cool!"

"Is Lance gonna be there?" Wanda asked.

She shook her head. "He needs some alone time right now. You'll see him shortly. So what do you say?"

"Why not?" Pietro shrugged.

"That's really nice of you Miss Cover Girl," Fred said. "Will there be a lot to eat?"

"I think we can manage," Cover Girl smiled. "I've got some clothes for Pietro and Wanda. Why don't you guys go ahead and let them get dressed okay?"

Althea nodded. "Okay, see you guys later!" She led the boys out.

"You know you guys have been really nice to us," Fred said sheepishly. "Nobody ever did nice stuff like this for us before."

"Hey it's no big deal," Althea shrugged. "We may not have much but what we got we're willing to share. Except when it comes to ammunition."

Soon they were out on the common area. "I have to confess something," Althea said. "This picnic isn't just to welcome you guys. It's also a send off party."

"Who's going?" Todd asked.

"Them," She pointed at a small pen where about fifteen penguins were kept. "Hawk finally found a permanent home for them. Gonna send them to this new zoo/research center in New York someplace."

"Awww," Todd said. "I'm gonna miss them! I liked feeding the penguins."

"You kept penguins here?" Fred looked at them incredulously. "What is this place a zoo?"

"Hard to tell sometimes," Althea smirked. "Okay it's uncommon for a military base to have animals on it for environmental studies or to help bring back the population of a certain species, but it's not unheard of. I mean look at that base in Massachusetts that has the box turtles on it. And I hear there's another one that's right next to a bird sanctuary someplace."

"Yeah but penguins?" Todd asked.

"Hey I never said we were a normal base," Althea told him. "Oh look here's an example of another endangered species," She pointed to a Joe. "The Green Headed Jackass!"

"That's Beach Head," Todd told Fred. "Trust me, just stay out of his way."

"Think Scott Summers on steroids with a Rogue personality transplant," Althea told him.

"Oh," Fred looked at him. "Gotcha. Who's the other guys next to him?"

"That's Low Light and Sci Fi," She pointed out. "Hey they got the hot dogs and burgers done!"

"LUNCH TIME!" Fred nearly knocked her down in order to get to the food.

"I think he's hungry," Todd chuckled. "Come on, let's get something to eat, otherwise there won't be any food left!"

Soon Pietro and Wanda joined them. Pietro was dressed in jeans with a black T-shirt with a lightning streak on it. Wanda was wearing a red tank top with black jeans as well as a black leather jacket. Before long everyone was eating and talking.

Including a certain group of Joes. "I hate to admit it but I'm gonna miss them little critters," Sci Fi told Low Light and Beach Head.

"I'm not," Low Light said. "I'm glad they're going."

"Thank god!" Beach Head sighed. "I thought we'd never get rid of those stupid penguins! Now all we have to worry about is how to get rid of those maniacs!" He pointed to the kids. Roadblock was trying to keep them from having a food fight with minimal success.

"We're supposed to be fighting terrorists, not baby sitting a bunch of brats with super powers," Beach Head grumbled.

"I'm not exactly crazy about it either," Low Light sighed. "But they don't have anywhere else to go. Lay off 'em Beach Head."

"Why Low Light don't tell me you're getting all paternal on us already?" Sci Fi snickered.

"Shut up," Low Light bristled.

"What?" Beach Head asked.

"Ain't you heard?" Sci Fi said. "Low Light just got assigned to help take care of those kids. Full time!"

"You're joking?" Beach Head gasped. "Him?"

"Kinda gives you a fuzzy feeling don't it?" Sci Fi laughed.

"It wasn't my idea," Low Light snapped.

"Calm down Daddy," Sci Fi chuckled.

"Yeah Low Light you'll fit in with those freaks," Beach Head snickered. "You're practically a freak yourself. Been one since I've known you."

That was when Low Light punched him in the nose. Then he tackled Sci Fi. "LAUGH THIS OFF FUNNY GUY!"

"ARE YOU NUTS?" Sci Fi shouted.

"GET OFF HIM LOW LIGHT!" Beach Head got up and tried to pry him off. "THAT'S AN ORDER!"

An order Low Light ignored. In fact he grabbed Beach Head and threw him across a table, spilling drinks and food everywhere. "That's it!" Beach Head got back up. "This is war!"

"What the heck…?" Roadblock looked over and saw Low Light taking on Beach Head and Sci Fi. "What are they doing?"

"They're having a brawl," Shipwreck said calmly, eating a hamburger. "I got five on Beach Head!"

"Ten on Low Light!" Another Joe shouted out. Soon half the Joes were making bets.

"Holy cow look at them go!" Todd whistled.

"Oh man they're really going at it!" Pietro said excitedly. "I am so glad I decided to stay! This place is so cool!"

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU BOZOS!" Cover Girl stormed up to the three men rolling around on the ground. She grabbed Sci Fi turned him around and punched him out. She did the same to the other two men.

"Wow!" Fred whistled. "Can she punch!"

"She's tough," Todd blinked.

"Okay, note to self," Pietro gulped. "Do not get on her bad side."

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" She bellowed at them as they lay in the dirt. "WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE ARE YOU SETTING FOR THE KIDS?"

"He started it!" Sci Fi pointed to Low Light.

"Yeah we were just talking and he goes ballistic for no reason!" Beach Head said.

"You were blabbing your big mouth!" Low Light snapped. "That's reason enough for me!" He reached for him but he was held back by Roadblock.

"NOW COOL IT!" Cover Girl shouted. "BOTH OF YOU!"

"Okay all three of you in my office! Now!" Hawk ordered. "Roadblock make sure they get there!" They left. "Oh brother. The kids are better behaved than my own men!"

"General," The Blind Master smiled. "Perhaps this incident was more fortuitous than you think." He pointed to Cover Girl.

"You have a point," Hawk nodded. "Cover Girl!" He called her over. I have a proposition for you. Interested?"

"You know me General," Cover Girl smiled. "I'm always ready for a challenge."

Next up: Looks like a nice happy life for the mutants, right? Wrong! Bring on the bad guys! Looks like our merry mutants have a few enemies that are roaming around, and I don't mean the X-Men! The trouble is just about to begin!