Disclaimer- X-Men: Evolution is not mine and I lay no claim on it. I do not own anything belonging to Marvel or the respected artists. I will not profit money wise from this story.
Chapter 7
It felt as if wind was running through his ears and his face felt on fire. Cautiously he opened his eyes only to find that they were nearly swollen shut.
"Careful, Ben. Dad kind of won that round" he heard Adam say.
Ben tried to reply but it hurt too much so he sat up slowly and waited for the world to stop spinning.
They were still in the cage only now there was a new feature. There were a couple of bars that were separating Ben and Adam for Adam's parents. Ben pointed at the bars and tried to mumble a question.
"Yeah, it's your fault, buddy. The man in charge didn't want you damaging his property or getting any more damaged. Didn't want Ava to think that he had let you get roughed up by his guys" he heard Adam reply.
Ben nodded and sank back down to a more comfortable position. He looked over at the two adults and saw Mr. Jensen glaring at him. He looked pretty good apart from the dried blood on and around his nose. Ben had to smile at that.
~*~
Bayville High seemed unusually calm when Ava turned up there. She had wandered around and pretended to soak in knowledge from the various teachers but she wasn't really there. She was terrified in case she started seeing everyone's fear again like the last time.
She pulled at her gloves uncomfortably and made sure that she stepped well away from anyone. She was also looking for any member of the Brotherhood, as she had to fulfil her promise to Mystique. She spied Fred sitting at a table across the hall but she didn't think that telling him would be the world's best idea. She needed Lance or Pietro because at least they would remember what she had told them.
She had almost given up when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"What have you got to report?" someone hissed in her ear.
"Leave her alone, Pietro" another voice said.
Ava turned to confront who was there to find Pietro glaring at Evan. Ava nearly laughed at the amount of tension between these two.
"It's okay, Evan. I'll be all right" she said calmly to him.
"But he's the enemy, man. He's the bad guy" Evan complained.
"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me" Ava repeated more forcefully and was glad to see that Evan got the hint and wandered off.
"I love your taste in bodyguards" Pietro smirked.
Ava ignored that and motioned him to follow her.
"What did you want to know?" she asked.
"Need a report for Mystique."
"What can I say? Big place. Lots of security. Lots of kids. Clean, very clean which is a change" Ava laughed lightly.
"What else? Anything of interest?" Pietro almost demanded.
"Not as of yet. It's sort of introductory week. You know, meet and greet. But the minute that something comes up I will tell you or Lance" she shrugged.
"Are you sure nothing has happened?"
"Well I think some of them are starting to suspect something. It's rather hard to fake and American accent for long. They tend to pick up on it" she told him.
She watched as he frowned and cocked his head to one side as if in thought.
"Careful there. I've heard that thinking can be painful to those new to the process" she said snidely.
Pietro glared at her and she just smiled back.
"Ben and your dad got into a little bit of a fight" Pietro shot back; knowing that it would hurt her.
"Are they okay?" Ava looked at him for an answer.
She sighed with relief when he nodded.
"Tell your dad that when this is finished I want to go back home and my family better be in one piece" she warned but it was in vain as he had already disappeared.
She got through the rest of the day without incident but she didn't hang around with her new housemates. She wanted to see Fred and Todd, mainly because she felt sorry for them but also because they occasionally provided really good conversation. Plus the fact that there were no flies whenever Todd was concerned.
"Hey guys" she said as she plonked herself down at their table.
Both of them looked up surprised.
"Why are you still hanging out with us, yo?" Todd asked, scratching his head.
"Do you want me to be all cliched and say 'this is a free country' or something like that? I sat here because we were kind of friends" she replied.
"But what about the X-geeks?" Fred asked while he was finishing his lunch.
"They're okay, sort of. A bit strange if you ask me" Ava replied.
She hated doing this to any of the people that she had met. She never wanted to get mixed up in all their conflicts. She was quite happy at home where she had never heard or Magneto or Xavier or anything like that.
Ava rubbed her temples trying to put herself back into the mindset of spy.
"You okay, yo?" Todd asked concern slightly creeping into his voice.
"I'm fine. I just have to go for a walk" she answered him standing up abruptly and rushing outside.
Stepping out into the autumn sunlight she breathed deeply trying to relax her system. Not for the last time she wished for the simpler times in her life. She didn't know what Magneto wanted her to report but she knew that she had to keep the act up.
~*~
"I believe that she is in a lot of trouble."
"I agree Ororo. I think that Magneto is controlling her somehow" Charles answered her as he looked out across the front of his grounds.
"Do you think it is mind control?" Ororo asked as she controlled a small rain cloud over a pot plant.
Charles looked thoughtfully at Ororo before answering.
"No I think it is something a lot simpler than that. I truly wish that I could read her mind. Do you know the theory of Occam's Razor?"
"I have heard of it."
"In it's basic description it means that the simplest answer will generally be the correct answer" Charles explained.
He watched as Ororo made the cloud disappear and sat down in the nearest chair.
"I believe that we can apply it to Ava in this case" he continued.
"In what way?"
"Well what would make you work for Magneto even if you didn't share his beliefs?"
Charles moved his wheelchair around to face Ororo and watched as she thought of various answers.
"I'm not sure" she finally concluded.
"I believe that he has someone close to the girl."
"Like a hostage?"
"Yes. I believe that that sounds like the simplest reason."
"So what can we do about that?" Ororo asked.
"I don't know. I wish that she would say something but I am sure she fears for whomever Magneto has trapped. I believe that we may have to do something about it. We will talk to Scott and Jean and see what they have to say" Charles concluded.
Charles moved his wheelchair out of the room and was closely followed by Ororo.
~*~
Scott sat looking bored in the Professor study. When he had arrived home from school he had been asked to wait in the study. He was leafing through a book when he heard the large door open. He jumped up, expecting the professor and was surprised to see Jean standing there. As per usual, whenever Jean was in the same room, he felt his heart rate pick up.
"Hi Scott" she said as she sat down across from him.
"Hi Jean. So do you have any idea what's going on?"
"Not a clue."
Scott watched as Jean sat back and hummed to herself as they waited. He hoped that the professor would be here soon.
"So what do you think about Ava?" he heard Jean ask suddenly.
"There is something about her that doesn't seem right. I mean she showed up at the Brotherhood about two nights ago and now she is here. It seems very suspicious to me" he answered.
He looked down at his shoes as he waited for her to reply. His eyes only seeing everything in a red tinted colour.
"I know what you mean. I feel that she is sincere in a lot of things that she says but I also get the feeling that there is something that she is hiding" Jean replied.
"Ah you are both here, very good. Sorry for making you wait" both of the m heard the professor say.
"Hey Professor" Scott said
"I know that you are wondering why you are here" the professor began and Scott nodded his head.
"Well I believe that Magneto is holding someone against his or her will. Someone who is close to Ava" the professor explained.
"You mean someone that Ava knows" Scott stated as he began to piece together little ideas that he had noticed.
"Yes. I believe that that is the only reason why Ava is in this vicinity. Although I do believe that her powers are troubling her" the Professor said.
"Has she told you this, Professor?" Jean asked.
"No, she hasn't mentioned it but with Gambit's little visit the other night and her arrival here I believe that that could be the case. I want to find out if that is true but since she has these blocks in her mind I cannot read it. I was hoping that we could find out without her knowing."
"Sounds like a plan" Scott said eagerly.
~*~
Ava made her way back towards the Institute feeling glum. She wanted to tell everyone everything but she couldn't risk the harm to her parents. Forcing herself to calm down she jogged back to the Institute. She got to the gates and slipped through only to be confronted by someone.
"Hey fraulein, you are back late" a familiar voice said.
Ava looked at this person in front of her.
"Kurt, is that you?"
The person that she was looking at looked nothing at all like the guy she had seen at school. He had blue fur and pointed ears, which gave him an elfin like look. What really got her attention was the tail that was whipping around behind him.
"Interesting look you have there" she said nervously.
She saw the slightly hurt look in his eyes but didn't know what else to say.
"It's the real me" he informed her.
"Oh. I would never have guessed. Well I have to admit that your tail looks very cool" she said, hoping to make up for the hurt look.
She watched as Kurt smiled and she mentally sighed.
"I got lost on my way back" she informed him as they made their way to the Mansion.
"That's okay. I was sent to tell you that you have a training session in the danger room with the new recruits and Logan" he told her before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Ava wrinkled her nose at the smell that he left behind.
She then realised what he had told her and felt her stomach drop. She had met Logan once and felt nervous around him then. He had a very strong presence and she didn't know what to expect form the session.
To Be Continued...