Lizzie woke up as the first rays of sunlight began to push away the night sky. She rolled over and looked at Craig, a sense of regret flooding her. She shouldn't have given in to temptation, shouldn't have let her desire for that man get the better of her. She'd promised herself she wouldn't do anything to change the future anymore than those things that couldn't be helped; yet, she'd done just that. And for what, a man who would never love her? She started out of bed, but Craig's arm reached out, taking hold of her wrist.
"Where are you going?"
Looking at his face broke Lizzie's heart. "We need to get ready. Remember?"
Craig gave her a little smile, and her heart melted. "Yeah, I remember. We still have time until we have to fight, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then come back to bed. It's cold."
"Craig, I don't think..."
Craig put a finger to her lips. "Don't, Elisabeth. I'm not sure what to think about last night either, but I know I liked it. Stay a little while longer—I want to hold you as long as I can."
Lizzie ignored that voice of reason that was telling her to run. "I'm not Briana, you know."
"I know. I don't want you to be."
Lizzie moved back into his arms. What place did rationality have in her life anymore anyway?
*** *** ***
"Vicky!"
Vicky stopped, cursing under her breath. It was way too early for her to have to deal with him. She turned around, already glaring. "This better be good, Cajun. I haven't had my coffee yet." She gave him a look that managed to be a smile and a glare at the same time.
"You can't go wit' Craig an' Logan."
"We already had this conversation. I do what I please, go it?"
"Non! Vicky, you're not understandin'! You can't! We'll lose too much!"
"We? What the hell could we lose?"
"Everyt'ing!" Emil's voice got so soft Vicky wondered if she could've heard it without her enhanced hearing. "Wolf..."
"What? What wolf?"
Emil sighed. "I can't explain, dat, Victoria. Jus' trust me. I'm not what you t'ink."
"What, you're not a crazy, bad-smelling swamp freak?"
"Non." He gave her a slight smile. "An' I bathed."
Victoria sniffed the air. He had. Still, clean or not, he wasn't going to try to tell her what she could and couldn't do. "Look, I appreciate the concern, or whatever, but I'm going in there with Logan and Craig. I'm going to be fine. Even if something were to happen, my healing factor could take care of it."
"Not if you're blown t'tiny bits."
"Gee, thanks for that happy image."
Emil knew exactly what kind of image it was. He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Take me seriously, Vicky. Please..."
"I need to go get some breakfast," Vicky said, pulling away.
"Vicky..."
"I need to go, Emil." She walked past him, ignoring the continued pleas he shouted after her.
*** *** ***
For once, the team was quiet. They stood around the Blackbird in silence, ready for Sparks and Renegade to complete the final checks so they could leave. Emil Lapin knew it would be easier to go undetected if they were a little more distracted, but he wasn't a master thief for nothing. He could get on that plane and hitch a ride to Antarctica. So much depended on it...
He worked his way into one of the main cargo holds and settled in. It was going to be a long trip.
*** *** ***
The Blackbird was packed. The X-Men sat cramped up against each other, the tension level almost to a breaking point. In just a short amount of time, they'd be facing danger again, risking their lives to save the universe.
Billy Starsmore piloted the plane slowly out of the docking bay and into the sunlit sky, and the X-Men stared forward, their fates uncertain. Even before, with The Dark One, when Earth had been the price should they fail, the circumstances had not seemed so dire. Should they not succeed, they'd never have a chance to try again. Failure meant the extinction of time.
Billy guided the plane to cruising altitude and leaned back. The X-Men relaxed a little, although not much.
Vicky Creed froze, and sniffed the air. She looked over at Logan. "You smell something, runt?"
Logan gave Vicky a dirty look before pausing and sniffing the air herself. "I smell a stowaway."
"Either that or someone packed a swamp," Vicky replied, getting out of her seat and opening one of the cargo holds. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Emil looked up at her and sighed. "I tol' you not t'go."
"And it doesn't look like I'm going to listen. Billy, can we take him back to the mansion?"
"There's no time," Lizzie said before anyone else had a chance to respond. "Taking Emil back to the mansion would just slow us down, and every second counts right now. The longer we wait, the less time the universe may have left."
Vicky sighed, pushed Emil back in the cargo hold, and shut the door. "Stay in there then!" She went back to her seat in a huff.
No one said anything for a while.
*** *** ***
Emil sat alone in the cargo hold, playing with his key chain. Suddenly, he slammed his fist on the ground in frustration. Why wouldn't she just listen to him? He hated himself for trying so hard to push her away. He learned early that fate wasn't something you fought.
"Emil?"
Emil didn't even look up at Marie. "Quoi?"
Marie sat in front of him. "Why did you sneak on the Blackbird?"
Emil shrugged. "I was afraid of what would happen if I was stuck alone in that mansion with Marius Boudreaux."
Marie frowned, knowing that wasn't the case. "You had another vision, didn't you."
"I tol' you, Marie, I don' have visions."
"Don't lie to me, Emil."
Emil sighed heavily. "I don' know what dey mean, Marie. Dey jus' come, and usually, dey tell de trut'. In dis one, I see…I see somet'ing bad happen to Vicky. She can't go in dere. She won' come out."
For years, Emil had always seemed to have a sixth sense. When they were children, it had been little things, like always knowing where to catch the best crawfish. Later, it had been bigger things, like knowing when accidents would occur, or being able to predict natural disasters before they happened.
He'd said it was nothing. Marie would wager it was a mutation.
"I'll talk to her," Marie said, putting her hand over Emil's. "I know what those visions of yours mean, Emil, and I know if you say Vicky shouldn't go, then she shouldn't."
"She won' listen."
"She might."
Emil just nodded, already knowing that Marie was going to be wasting her breath. Vicky would be stubborn.
"Don' let dem lock me up in here when we get dere, all right, Marie? Victoria's life may depend on it."
"I'll do what I can."
"Don' let her die."
"Why is she so important to you?" Marie asked with a frown. "I mean she's Sabretooth's daughter."
"She just is," Emil replied softly. His mind filled with images of Victoria Creed holding their newborn son. "She just is."
*** *** ***
Tensions rose even higher on the Blackbird as it landed on Antarctica's frozen soil. The team filed off the plane, one after the other.
Marie noticed the door to the cargo bay was locked and frowned, remembering Emil's words. Victoria's life may depend on it.
"You guys head on towards the base," she said. "I, um, left my cards on the plane."
Ric shot his sister a look. "That's a bit irresponsible of you."
Marie laughed nervously. "Yeah, silly me. I'll catch up with y'all, okay?"
Lizzie nodded, and the X-Men headed off. Marie ran onto the plane, unlocking the cargo door. Emil looked up at her. "Merci beaucoup, petite."
"De Rien," Marie replied with a wink. "Be careful out there, cousin."
"I will," Emil said, rising to his feet. "Now go join de ot'ers. Dey gonna need ev'ryone if dere gonna beat dese guys."
"What do you see for us this time, Emil?" Marie asked.
"I still see a future, but dat could change. Bonne chance."
Marie gave Emil a quick hug before running off to catch up with the rest of the X-Men.
*** *** ***
The X-Men crouched down in front of the base of the Ultramites. The snow whipped around them, offering them cover from their enemies, but also cutting down on their ability to fight.
Lizzie tried to appear unaffected. She was in control of this mission. The X-Men of her time had trusted her with the responsibility of stopping these villains, and she wouldn't let them down. Everything she'd ever known depended on it.
"Okay, first we need a distraction," Lizzie said. "Someone needs to draw the Ultramites out here so Canis, Wildcat, and Slayer can go in and plant the bombs. The sooner we disable these guys, the sooner we can all go home and warm up." She tried to smile.
Kacie Drake raised her hand. "I'll distract them," she said cheerily. "I make a really good decoy."
"She does," Billy said, his voice holding something that may have been pride.
"Any objections to Kacie being a decoy?" Lizzie asked. When the team was silent, she turned to Kacie and said "All right, Ice Queen, get them out here."
Kacie saluted her before taking off for the base.
The other X-Men stayed, waiting for the action to begin.
*** *** ***
Kacie Drake pounded loudly on the walls of the Ultramite base. "Hellooooo!" she hollered. "Anyone iiiiiin here?" She sighed when there wasn't any answer. She closed her eyes, building up her concentration. She used her telekinesis to push against the building as hard as she could, shaking most of the base. It wasn't long until the first couple Ultramites poked their heads out, curious as to what was going on. Kacie raised an eyebrow. They were even shorter than she expected.
"Well hello there, lil' ankle biter!" she exclaimed perkily. "Like, anybody seen my lost polar bear. It's white."
The Ultramites chattered in a language Kacie didn't understand. She stood there nervously, hoping it would work. Suddenly, one of the Ultramites looked at her and snarled, showing off a rows and rows of pointed fangs. "Holy shit!" Kacie exclaimed as it jumped at her, aiming for her jugular vein.
She threw up a TK shield knocking the Ultramite to the ground. It lay in the snow for a minute in shock before getting to its feet and coming for Kacie again.
Kacie used her powers to form an ice spear, and this time when the creature came at her, she struck back. The Ultramite screeched as the spear came down on it, then surprised Kacie by fading away completely.
As soon as they heard the dying yelp of their comrade, however, hundreds of other Ultramites began to swarm out of the base. Kacie took off in a run, leading them back to the X-Men.
The battle was on.
*** *** ***
Yes, I know, it's been awhile. I'll try to get the next one out within a week or so. :)