© Autumn Raine

A/N: I have no idea why Microsoft Word saves the stories really weird with giant spaces. Does anyone know how to turn that off, or something? X_x; It's really annoying. I tried saving it differently this time, so maybe the spaces aren't there? O.o;; Blah, I'll find out once I do update this.

Anywho, new chapter. Yeehaw. :D!

And It Starts:

United We Stand II

( Roller Coaster of Emotions )

"You are the daughter of such a strong, familiar man among us, Kristina. Too bad he is locked away... Yet, still - I'm honored by your presence." The masked man continued to make the small necklace dance infront of him; sides of the locket open and a picture of her father seemed to whirl and twirl about infront of her.

Whincing, she pushed herself off the ground and raised her hand. Fingers stretched to try and grasp the moving necklace. "Please, just give it back!"

The cloaked man let the small necklace dangle infront of her eager hands, opened locket baring all that there was inside to the girl. "Your father is a powerful man, but because of that – he's locked away like he was in this locket..."

"..." Staring at him, hands would drop to her sides as she stood there – eyes wide as she stared at the man in the small locket. She never knew there was a picture inside – no matter how many times she tried to open that stupid thing. "... I don't have a father. Or a mother. Just give the locket back to me." Thinking about the possibility of her father upset her. How long did she have to wait for him. That inscription – I'll always come for you. Sure, always. Part of her figured he was dead and that was why. But he wasn't, she knew from her gift. Ick, this man was making her think too much.

"Think what you want, Girl, but you do have a father. I can tell by the picture. He'd be proud of you... If he wasn't locked away, you know." The gold necklace was snatched away from her in thin air and was drawn back to the cloaked figure, a gasp escaping her lips as the object was taken away from her once more. "It's not pure gold, by the way – there's some trace of a strong metal in it. Perhaps he knew we'd meet, Kristina."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Sir." Her voice was quiet, and her mind was flooding with the soft voices of her friends. Her ghostly friends that were itching to help her, to help her get rid of this man that seemed to bother her heart and mind.

"Anyway," The figure let himself down to the ground, as well as lowering the hovering vehicle. With a flick of his wrist, the metal axels of the car's wheels were heard squeaking and moaning in pain as they were twisted and bent inside the frame of the car. The hub caps popped off the tires at the tires frames' were also molding inward. The car seemed to be inwardly imploding – but the painful cries of the car's metal were ceased as it was left in a scrunched position on the dusty ground. If the car could cry, it would – it seemed to already by in it's fetal position. "You won't be leaving, you'll be waiting – for the others, and as well as for me. I have a feeling Xavier—"

The figure's voice was cut short by the sound of a cell phone's ringing tone. Hands went inside the cloak, and he withdrew a small pocket-size phone; fingers flipping it as the helmet lifted off his head by that invisible force. A mop of gray hair was bared as he turned to answer the phone, his face shielded from view as he spoke furiously on the phone. "They're what!? No, go with them – we'll see you there.... Yes! Go with them, Pietro! It's not a choice! ... We shall see you there by tomorrow evening."

The man turned to them, glancing over to Mystique and then to the three newbie mutants who had quickly huddled up with one another. He was relatively older than the woman, must have been approaching his 50's. Or 60's. But still, he looked younger than that in his stature, that his age would be a mystery to the young ones. His eyes seemed soft and kind, yet had this iron fist sense of authority that rang out from his voice when he spoke. Helmet was tucked under an arm as booted feet brought him to the three huddled on the ground.

"Believe me or not, my young girl – " He glanced down to Kristina, taking her by the hand and lifting her to her feet. Her necklace floated over towards her, and the invisible force placed it back around her neck. "You'll meet your father by tomorrow evening, and then... You'll see... You will see."

As he walked away from her he placed the helmet back on and went over to Mystique. "Wait here, you know who's on his way – I just got a call from Pietro. Keep them busy, as well as yourself busy. You know how the Wolverine could catch your scent from miles away." Turning from her, he began to walk down the dusty street. "I'll meet you within hours... I just have a few friends that I'd like to take with me on this journey." And with that, the man was gone into the sky.

"Magneto... " Mystique grit her teeth and looked over to the three on the ground. Sue and Darren were clinging to each other as they were about Kristina, who looked like she was trying to move away from the two to sit off by herself. Golden eyes glanced towards the sky, waiting for them to get here already.

"Are you crying, Girl? " Mystique looked over to the lonesome looking girl. "Tears won't do anything, you know."

"I'm not crying." Eyes looked over to the woman as she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms about her knees. She felt the soft hush of voices float through the wind that picked up some dust about her. They were trying to communicate with her again, despite how badly she was blocking out their words. But they still tried to get her attention.

"Magneto thinks your father will do some good when we head back to the Farm." What a change in character for Mystique – she was speaking rather smoothly and soothingly as she walked over to the girl and knelt down infront of her. "But listen to me, your father is a frightful man. He listens to absolutely no one. Not even Magneto, who's going to get his ass kicked when he does let him out. It is not something we need now, nor do we need you thinking this is some family reunion. I have no doubts he'll be here with Magneto by tomorrow – so ignore the large, invulnerable beast that comes with him. He won't be soft for you. If anything, he'll go after Xavier – who's your Uncle..." She smiled a bit as she laughed to herself. "Your family tree is almost as bizarre as my own."

She listened to her and nodded, but her words felt like nothing to Kristina. Eyes drifted to the long strands of her hair and she began to play with them between her fingertips, the bandage about her wrist bothering her slightly as pieces of her hair became stuck to the tape.

Sighing, Mystique got up from besides her and went off towards the edge of the road, eyes peering to the left and right – then back to above. Where were those X-Geeks?

"What do you think we're waiting for?" Darren whispered to Sue.

She shrugged and held onto his hand. "I don't know, but I hope they'll take us back home. I miss my father... I haven't seen him in weeks."

"Psh, I'm never goin' back home after what my parents did to me. Maybe I'll stay with the blue skinned lady." He smirked, and glanced over to Kristina who had made herself a distance from them. "How weird must it be to find out about your father like that..."

"Yeah.. It must be really weird. What do you think she's thinking?"

"I have no idea."

"Maybe she's thinking about her father and what he's like. I know I'd be like that."

"But she never knew of him, and what he was like. And then to find out that your dad's some powerful mutant that's practically unstoppable – that must be pretty odd." He shrugged. "Someone like that's gotta be unable to love or somethin' like that, you know? Like one of those movies where that guys a huge beast and can't love?"

"Yeah, but they always end up loving someone. It's anyone's weakness." Sue corrected him with a nod of her head.

"Well... That's kind of true." He gave her a bit of a puppy-like smirk as he lowered his head, a blush tainting his flushed cheeks as he looked to Sue and squeezed her hand.

Kristina blinked as she looked over to the love-birds, as she so wanted to call them, and then lowered her head. Psh, she hated how people could be like that. She kept her head low as she glanced about the empty spot in the middle no where on some dirty road that she'd been brought to. Eyes also looked to the car that had been crushed by that man's invisible force just moments before.

Ugh, the thought of him sickened her. He brought up her father – a man whom she's never known. But what about her mother? No one knew about her, even though they knew so much about her father. Again, she wondered if she was dead – but she wasn't. Perhaps she'll never know; well, until her mother dies, actually. Then, she figured, I'll definitely know.

"Hey! Pietro n' Lance – where 'r ya'll goin'?!" Alana squeaked as she tried her best to pry her furry friend off her, squirming wrecklessly until she was able to use those legs of hers to pound herself over to them. She wasn't nearly as fast as Pietro himself, but she sure could move fast if she needed to. "Ya'll ain't leavin', are ya? If ya're, I'm goin' wit' you guys!"

Pietro glanced over his shoulder as he took the small, black cell phone away from his ear; opposite hand flipping the cell phone so that it snapped when it closed. Thin lips parted for a quick sigh as he then turned to completely face her, a delicate hand holding her by her thin arm. "Relax, Alana – We're going to go with them." Icy blue eyes glanced over to the group of oh-so-marvelous X-Men that seemed to be radiating in all their glory from the ramp into the belly of the plane – it was like a bad movie scene, or something. Just thinking that made his stomach knot  and his face turn a bit sour.

"... Ya'll don't really wanna go wit' 'em, do ya?" She looked up to him and blinked, one of her hands moving his hand from her arm – her disgusting, tattoo'd arm. Self conscious, she placed her hand over the set of numbers and barcoding, and looked back up to him with a bit of hesitation.

"Face it, there's no other choice. We're meeting up with the others soon; they're stopped somewhere. Hopefully that X-Jet, X-Plane, X-Whatever can fit a few more people." Folding his arms over his chest, he moved away from Alana and joined up with Lance who was already approaching the plane after he heard Pietro's short and very quick conversation on the phone. Taking the leader position for the three of them, Pietro ran a few digits through his sleek, white mane and walked up to Xavier. With a slight smile, he offered that hand to the man in the wheel chair. "Look, we'll work together just for this once – we're all going to the same place, we're all doing the same thing, and we all have the same goals... "A quick glance was shot at Scott with a bit of a smirk, then back to Xavier. "So, what'do ya say to giving us a lift, huh?"

"You do make a point, Pietro – and I know that your father will be there. Your father seems to show up where ever there's going to be something big happening." Xavier gave a bit of a smirk of his own to Pietro. "You may join us, you three – there are seats in the back. I suppose we'll be picking up a few more on the way, right, Pietro?" Heh, don't mess with a telepath.

"Oh, well... Yeah. They're on the way, you know." Pietro's words were quiet and rushed – it seemed like just a sigh, unless one was truly listening to him.

"Very well then. Everyone, on to the Jet." Mechanical wheels swiveled on the ramp way as the X-Men, and as well as the two from the Brotherhood, went up the ramp. Dark eyes glanced over towards Alana who still remained at the jeep and to Gabby, who was on all fours and cautiously creeping up towards Alana.

"Alana – Are ya comin' with us?" Lavender eyes glanced up to the petite girl who was staring at the large plane several feet from her. "It'll be fun! I promise!"

"Ah guess... But ah really don't wanna go back t' the Farm, Gabby." Lowering her head, she folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "Ah neva thought ah'd see tha day when a bunch of mutants'll team up n' go faight fer us down there. This is jus' like'a dream to me, ya know? Ah'm waitin' to wake up from it so ah can git back t'sellin' shirts, 'r somethin'..."

"Alana, everyone back at the Farm thinks yer dead! But, wow! You were the first to git outta there. You finally got to see what was outta that stupid place... And you were one of the longest one's who've been there, right?" Peering up to her friend, she blinked – a furry hand reached up and took her by the hand. The other hand rolled up the sleeve of her shirt as she showed her those inked numbers on her arm. "You don't gotta be embarrassed, ya know. I got 'em too."

Gosh, she so desperately wanted to start crying! Lashes batted over those lids as she once more flung her arms about her friend's chest and hugged her tightly. Button nose was buried into the nape of her friend's neck as she whimpered a few sentences, her warm breath kind of tickling Gabby through the shirt's fabric and onto her fur. "Ah'm scared, Gabby... Ah'm real scared sum big faight's gonna start 'cuz of this."

Fighting back her impulse to start giggling from practically being tickled to the point of a laughter explosion, she put her arms about her friend; softly comforting her as she rubbed her back. "Well, I can't lie to ya an' say there's not gonna be any fightin'."

"No, ya don't understand." She picked up her head and looked up to her friend, small wet tears in the corners of her eyes. "Once all them humans 'bout the world hear that sum bunch o' muties was beatin' up otha humans, we're all as good as dead dawgs!"

"Alana, there's so many mutants in the world – they jus' don't know 'bout it yet. And I'm guessin' that this is gonna make them all come out... In a good way, of course."

Yes, Gabby's right, Alana. That mechanical wheelchair-bound man had been listening all along upon the small ramp into the belly of the plane. Dark eyes glanced back and forth at the two who turned around to face him at the sound of his voice. I will explain all that you want to know Alana, but we must go – there are others we need to meet with shortly who we need when head back to the Farm.

Gabby took Alana's small hand into her own, and she lead her over to the plane. Alana followed shortly after her, dark shimmering eyes looking cautiously up at the plane as she entered it properly this time – unlike before when she just let herself in. Heh.

As they walked up the ramp, Xavier had followed in afterwards; the small ramp then began to lift up to close as the engine softly hummed to take off. Many of the passengers had already taken their seats; the tall black woman, the man with the cowboy hat on his lap, the bald-headed man who was scooting around them to get to 'his' place, the red head who was next to the brown haired kid, the blue furry boy – and then Gabby went to a seat of her own near the blue furred kid. Letting go of her hand, she took a few steps back, dark shimmery eyes glancing over at her two bad boys who had taken a spare bench-like seat behind the row of seats.

Why ain't they sittin' in the extra seats? Raising a brow, she turned back to look at the empty seats – and she took one. Slender hands held onto the arm rest as she placed her behind in the chair, legs crossing Indian style in the seat as she looked around for a seatbelt. She had seen the other kids seatbelting themselves in as the jet smoothly took off, so she figured she'd do the same. Peeking out her near window, she looked down to the ground and then glance around again. What tha hell is this thang?

"It's the X-Jet." Green eyes peered between the backs of seats, a few red strands of hair cascading around perfectly peach toned facial features. "And Lance and Pietro like to think of themselves as outcasts, or something. Know what I mean?"

Looking at the girl, she'd raise her brow again. "No, I don't." Her answer was short, blunt – and probably sounded rather rude – but that girl was rude first for reading her thoughts! She'd follow up with a mumbled, "Ah'm an outcast, too." And then drift her gaze over to the window. These people seemed to have some history with one another, and from what she's heard – they sure don't sound like a bunch of nice people. Or maybe it was just that girl. Whichever, she wasn't enjoying it too much. All she was happy for was that Gabby was alright, and that she seemed happy with these people.

Leaning her elbow on the rest, she cupped her small chin in her hands and looked to her two friends in the back. They were talking – they always seemed to be whispering about something. She wished she knew what, but she couldn't read minds or anything. Part of her wondered if they really liked her all along that small journey and excape from the Farm. But the other part of her, which was growing by every insecure second, was whether or not they were just using her.

It stung her heart to think that sourly – but it still dampened her thoughts.

How could people jus' use otha people like that?

"Beast to Storm. Beast to Storm. Do you copy?" A male's voice began to pour from the overhead speakers in the front of the Jet, ceasing all other activity in the jet. Heads began to lift and look up to the front.

"Logan, if you can."

"Sure thing."  A big hand flicked a switch above his head, then he adjusted a small ear piece on his ear. Fingers moved the small microphone passed his rough whiskers so that it stayed in place infront of the corner of his lips. "Hank, its Logan; what's your status?"

"Well, we were able to snatch up a laptop – a fine piece of equipment, actually. Kitty's been exploring it, and she has found several data files of registered mutants at this facility. She has also found many programs that have radar and tracking features. It's actually pretty interesting."

"Anything else?"

"No, but I suppose we will find out much more once we start probing the laptop even more. Some files are locked, but we're trying. Kitty thinks if we get it hooked up properly, we could "totally" raid their security systems." He added a slight chuckle towards the end.

Logan snickered a bit under his breath. "We're on our way, Hank. Just wait for our signal, n' then you know what to do."

Fingers lifted up the small microphone away from his lips as the other hand flicked the same switch that he flicked moments before he began speaking to the man over the airwaves. He looked back down at the small ground radar screen to the left of him, and noted the few small dots blinking about a few miles away from the Jet. Eyes then glanced to the other radar which monitored the air paths. Not a plane on the sky – just... A few unlikely visitors that they'd have to pick up that lurked on the ground.

"I can smell Mystique like a wet dog." He grunted, busying himself with a few more controls that were in front of him.

"Wunderbar, jus' who I v'ant to see." Golden eyes rolled as a three fingered hand cupping his forehead, back slouching into his seat.

"Seems as if she's got three others with 'er." Logan added again before going back to the controls.

"Indeed. It seems as if we'll find out their stories in only a few minutes. I hope they don't mind standing if we don't have enough room for them." Xavier interjected, eyes glancing about the plane to all the young, teenage mutants that filled this small aircraft. "Treat them kindly, X-Men." He quickly added, and then looked back to the other two adults in the front of the plane – a quiet, and close conversation soon followed with them.

It's not like they were the only ones having a 'private' conversation either. Lance and Pietro had been talking lowly ever since they got onto the plane, whispering and hushing forced sentences as Pietro furiously spoke with his hands and as Lance snorted grunted after every statement he disagreed with.

Alana had been quietly watching all of this, looking back and forth to the front and back of the Jet. She felt a small frown on her face, and she rubbed at her cheek. Never had she been this emotional, and she wasn't enjoying it too much. She didn't like the constant whispering, the shady glances, and the random sounds of sighs, grunts, or snorts. They're all talkin' 'bout meh, 'r 'em back at tha Farm like they're sum pets! Ah jus' know it! Dark, shimmering irises glanced once more about the plane before she drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms about them. She didn't want to be so emotional anymore – she didn't want to feel like crying. She wanted to lash out, release all her anger; then maybe she'd cry.

Boy, how she hated being emotional.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter was really bad, but I just wanted to show how really emotionally fragile and odd Alana is. I need that one character that's really off the emotional balance, so I chose her. Plus, I know if anyone was in her position, they'd be so confused. I know I would be. X.x;

And yes, I made Kitty smart with computers. She's really smart in the comics, and I don't understand why they made her seem really dumb in Evolution. So I tweaked her a bit. ;P!

Woo, there's also some dirty scheming going on too! WEE! Pietro is so sexy. :: Grin. :: :D!