Storm smiled a little as she placed the pan of food in the over to warm up. Over her shoulder, she could hear Rahne's soft Scottish accent wafting across the room. The kitchen was warm and all the people in the house, in one form or another, could he heard getting ready for the evening meal. She liked that at least they tried to maintain a semblance of a family on these nights.
"So what's Toad like, Miss Storm?" Rahne asked, shaking Storm out of her reverie.
"His name is Todd, Rahne, and he's a very nice boy underneath all his bitterness. Think of him as a less egotistical, somewhat sweeter version of Bobby." Storm wiped her hands on a nearby towel and turned to face the younger girl. Each member of each team cooked with the adults in the evening, to try and foster a sense of team unity regardless of rank. The third member of their little crew had not shown up yet and Storm idly wondered where he was.
"Well...I'll believe it when I see it. I dinnae believe someone can change that quickly," Rahne said with more then a bit of spice in her voice. Storm smiled and shook her head slightly.
"That's the thing, Rahne. Todd has always been like this; no one chose to see it. Even me."
"Why did you fight so hard against Scott's objections, Miss Storm?" Rahne asked, leaning against a side counter and looking into her eyes.
"I guess I just remembered what it was like to be on the streets in my homeland, stealing as he did just to get by. I wanted Todd to have the same chance I had...and I guess I was just tired of Scott deciding that it was his responsibility to pass judgement on people before he knew their story," Storm said, her voice telling more of the meeting with Scott then her words did. Just as she spoke the words from her brain, however, the door to the kitchen opened and Scott Summers walked in, his eyes still looking angry and his hands tense.
"Is he here, Storm?" Scott asked pointedly.
"And good evening to you too, Scott," Storm said with a patient look. "To answer your question, yes, Todd has arrived and he's upstairs taking a shower before dinner."
"Good. That will give me plenty of time to talk to him," Scott replied with a grim look, very much unlike his normally optimistic demeanor.
"You'll do nothing of the sort Scott, at least not until he's had something to eat and at least a semblance of conversation with us. I'll not have you set off more fireworks until we all get together and see if this can work," Storm said, her hands moving to her hips and and her eyes locking Scott down with a massive stare. Scott found he couldn't match her gaze and looked away while Rahne just watched the two of them, eyes impassive yet slightly bright.
"...I'm sorry, Storm. I should be setting a better example for the team, I know. It's just that I can't stand Toad or his Boss, Alvers," Scott spat out, his head shaking a little. "I mean, doesn't anyone see that all Toad is to Lance is a henchman for Lance's stupid plans? I don't want someone like Lance here. We need team players, not goons without class."
"So now I don't have any class, yo?" Todd asked as he walked into the kitchen, his ears hearing every one of Scott's angry words. He hopped over the table and stood next to Rahne, his normally amber eyes shining a deep rich crimson flecked with spots of gold. "Coming from you, one-eye, that's rich. But then again, you're Jean's lap dog, so I don't expect much tolerance from you anyway..."
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Scott yelled his voice about to take the varnish off of the cabinets Rahne and Todd leaned against.
"It means that you're letting your woman's opinion of me cloud your own judgement of what you saw me do to support my own house, Scott." A pause happened while Todd organized his thoughts better. "I mean, you're the one who kept busting me when I was shoplifting for the brotherhood house food budget. You saw me with the lists of groceries we just had to have. You saw it all and yet you still think I'm this little lapdog of Lance's, yo. At least I take care of my own, yo. I helped my friends when it really mattered."
"And you think I don't?"
"Scott, Todd, stop this," Storm said sharply. Both boys fell silent at the motherly tone that slid into Storm's voice. "We'll have plently of time to talk about all of this. But not now. Dinner is nearly ready and Rahne and I have worked too hard to see either of you ruin it with your arguing."
"Whatever. I'll be up for dinner. I gotta get away for a while," Scott said, striding out of the room after he shot Todd a rather nasty glare. Todd sighed and looked at Storm sadly.
"I dinnae think Scott would take things this badly," Rahne said softly, her hand instinctively touching Todd's arm. Both felt the contact and drew away with only a single sidelong glance at one another. Rahne felt her face blush a little. Todd smiled softly back. Storm saw this and sighed, smiling a little herself. She knew that the girls were beginning to see the heartthrob in Todd come out and it would be very interesting to see what was going to happen next.
"Don't worry, child," Storm said with a patient tone. "Scott is just annoyed about a lot of things. Things will calm down."
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea, Storm," Todd said softly. "I don't want Scott to hate me all the time just because of my past, yo. He hates Lance but he doesn't realize that I think of Lance as my big brother. Lance and Fred are my brothers, or at least they should be, yo. Scott has his little brother, why can't I have someone I care about?"
"You know about Alex?" Storm asked, rather impassively.
"Lance bitched about him once when he was still chasing Kitty. He was a bit annoyed when he saw Alex during the whole Asteroid nonsense as well...but I think he's just protective of the entire house. " Todd said calmly. He walked over to the door and looked back at Storm and Rahne. "I'm going to go talk to Scott, yo."
"Do'ya think that's a good idea?" Rahne asked, her eyes shining a little bit.
"It can't hurt. He needs to know that I'm here for the long haul. I've got nowhere else to go and I'm not fighting him over this stuff, yo."
"Personally, I think you should wait for a little while, Todd," Storm said as she pulled out some plates from a cabinet, "But if you feel the two of you should work things out, he'll probably be downstairs in the garage. If you do go, bring him up for dinner. We'll be serving in 15 minutes."
"Cool, yo." At that, Todd hopped out but then hopped back in. "Um...where's the garage?" At that, Rahne shook her head, laughed a little and walked out of the kitchen, grabbing Todd's arm and dragging him along with her. Storm watched it all and just smiled; normality was beginning to come back to the mansion.
*****Scott stormed down to the garage, steam practically floating off his ears. He had never been this angry and the worst part was, he had no idea why he had the anger in him in the first place. Memories of every other night seeing Toad with money in his hand to buy food swirled in front of his eyes. He couldn't deal with the fact that by upholding the law he made it harder for an entire house to live and survive. He knew deep down that his justification for doing what he did was merely a way to keep sane. He knew that the differences in the Brotherhood and the X-Men were tearing him apart inside.
But what he also thought about incessantly was Lance Alvers. Avalanche. Lance Alvers was his reason for training as hard as he did; his reason for pushing everyone as hard as he did. Even Logan began to remark that he was beginning to take a much harder edge now as an instructor and team leader. Scott didn't think he meant it as a compliment, even from a hardass like the canuck but he disregarded it and moved on. And yet...at the end of the day, he wanted to show that he was the better leader, the better friend, the better teammate then Alvers was. Scott felt that Lance was a leader by default, whereas he was a leader by choice.
He was also troubled by the fact that though Pietro may have been the little piss boy for Magneto, Lance still lead that crew. And Toad was his henchman, his riding partner. He saw how close the two of them were...well, could be. He saw it and he didn't like the idea that Toad was leaving, not because he was a traitor but because what Scott hated most was unloyal assholes. He didn't like change and didn't think that people could change or become better, no matter how much of what the Professor said filtered through his ears. He knew all this and he knew that now life was going to get much tougher.
Scott went into the garage and immediately opened the door to his red convertible, sitting in the driver's seat and reaching for the glove compartment. He pulled out a pack of clove cigarettes and pulled one out. The cherry red filter stared at him as he grabbed a matchbook and lit up. The first few drags on the tasty cigarette let him calm down a little before he had to go and be civil at the table. He took another deep drag...and then he heard it.
"Shades smokes? Who would have guessed it?" Todd said as he looked on astonished from the doorway. Rahne stood just behind him, her eyes wide but her expression impassive. The both watched as Scott sat the cigarette down in the ashtray and took a deep breath to compose himself before speaking.
"Yes, I smoke an occasional clove cigarette here to calm myself down and if either of you tell anyone, I'll kill you where you stand," Scott said very calmly and quietly. He looked over at both younger mutants with venom running through his eyes, escaping to the sides of his face and visor. "I'd like it if both of you left because I need to calm myself down before I have to go to dinner."
"I can't do that, Scott." Todd replied calmly despite his voice cracking just slightly.
"And why is that?"
"I can't leave now because we need to talk. As the leader of this team, you need to talk to me instead of just running around yelling about how much you don't like me. So we're either going to do this now or do this after a bad training session where I don't listen or respect you." For a moment neither spoke, Rahne still looking on in slight shock and awe at the two boys. She slid her eyes from Scott's angry glare to Todd's determined yet vaguely frightened face.
"...Fine. Get in. Rahne, go upstairs and tell everyone the two of us will be back in 20 minutes." Scott said as he looked away and grabbed the cigarette, taking a long drag into his body. Rahne gently squeezed Todd's shoulder and turned off causing the frog boy to look at her for a moment with a bit of confusion and wonder. He then turned and hopped from the doorway to the other side of Scott's convertible settling in the deep bucket seat and noticing things for the first time. He looked at Scott looking off into the distance despite the garage door blocking his view. "Let's get down to it. You want to know why I don't want you here?" Scott asked softly.
"I'd like to know, yo."
"You're not what I'd consider someone I'd want around me. Period. You're a slimy, no respect giving asshole without any respect for authority. You lie, you cheat, you steal and you're an unhygienic slime bag to boot. Todd, you're everything I hate in people. Honestly and truly. Normally, I'd give people a chance but you worked with Lance and for Magneto. You were Lance's right hand thug and I don't think you'll ever change. That's why I don't want you here." Scott exhaled sharply and took another drag out of his cigarette before looking at the smaller boy. "But you're here now and there's nothing I can do. So frankly all I hope is that you don't give me a reason to kick your ass and beat you half to death for betraying us. We've had enough people fuck us over. We don't need you joining in." Scott looked off again and took another drag, the cigarette now nearly finished.
"Scott, do you remember the whole Asteroid M thing? When you and your brother decided to go and be Magneto's little piss boys?" Todd asked softly, knowing the pissboy line would make Scott look at him in shock. Scott did just as he thought but then saw the hurt and pain in Todd's face, making his own features soften a little. He looked down at the burning butt in his hand and decided to put it out in the ashtray.
"I do."
"What you don't know is that Magneto decided that he'd have everyone fight in one on one battles to see who got free passes to the Asteroid. I lost, the rest of the Brotherhood didn't. That day marked the last day I was ever able to really be a part of the Brotherhood. Knowing that you were the sole idiot that wasn't worthy of your bosses glory, that's the toughest thing I've had to deal with. Knowing that your crew wouldn't help you when you were being harassed and nearly raped by Duncan Matthews, that's dealing with being alone. Knowing that if you got stopped by an X-Man from stealing food to feed your house and still get yelled at by a reborn Mystique for failure, that is knowing what it's like to not be appreciated." Todd's voice trailed off for a moment and he looked down at his hands. Scott forced his head not to move as he looked over at the paint cans on a wall mounted shelf, trying not to let Todd know that he was close to choking up at hearing his words. Images from his own childhood in the orphanage flashed before his eyes and he noticed that his heart was beating just a little faster.
"Scott, you can hate me for everything I've done. You can hate me for everything I am. You can hate me for everything you think I am. But if you're going to hate me, you're going to hate me for the truth, yo. You're going to hate me for risking my life to save Wanda from being completely brainwashed by her father and Mastermind. Kurt helped me with that one, yo, and I owe him a lot." Todd paused to clear a knot from his throat and wipe at his misty eyes. "You're going to hate me for stealing food and money for my crew because Magneto decided to cut us off from money and food to toughen us up after the whole Asteroid saga. You're going to hate me because I'm too much of a wimp to stop Duncan from hurting me. But you're not going to hate me because of shit you don't know. Shit you assume, I don't particularly care about, yo."
"...how do I know you're not lying?"
"I'll have the Professor walk you through my memories, yo. Normally, I'd tell someone to go fuck off if they said half the shit you said to me...but you the team leader here. If I'm going to trust anyone here, I might as well be you. You're the one I'm probably going to yell at when something goes wrong that isn't my fault." A long moment passed and no one spoke until Todd spoke again, slower then before. "Scott, this is my chance to prove I'm not just a throwaway. This is my chance and I'll be damned if I'm going to let anyone, even you, stand in my way. If Magneto wants to kill me for defecting, so be it. If everyone here wants to not want me around, so be it. But I'm going to work as hard as possible to prove I'm worth something. And no one is going to stop me."
"You really want to be here?" Scott asked, his voice low and surprisingly tight.
"Yeah, yo. I've been on the darker side of life too long. It's time for me to give a shot on the lighter side of life. Here's the only spot I think I might be able to get that chance."
"Then know this: if you coming here is all a plot to get us by Magneto, I'll personally kill you wherever you are. Like I said, no one is going to break this team up again." Scott took a deep breath and looked at Todd. "But for now, I'll give you a chance. Just watch it."
"Sure, yo."
"Let's go. Storm's going to kick my ass if we miss dinner. She's cool about a lot of things, but dinner is one of the few things she takes really personally." At that both boys got out and walked to the doorway. Todd stepped through, his feet about to carry him into the hallway leading to the stairs when Scott's hand stopped him. "I've got a few questions, though."
"Shoot."
"One, how is Mystique back? Did she survive the crash in the first place?"
"She did. And to be perfectly frank, she's only with Magneto because it's a place to live and a warm house to be in. Somewhat. She wasn't very healthy though, and still isn't, hence why she's not been out at all. We were trying to keep her reappearing a secret till the right time."
"Ok. Two, what's the deal with your smell?"
"I don't shower much. It's my own way of keeping people off of me. Frogs and toads have their own unique smell to start with, but me being a mutant has mine coming off less strong then normal. Add in my own usual not showering and you get an impenetrable wall of funk that can keep people from hurting me." Todd smirked a little and looked back at Scott for a moment. "Plus, I've got sensitive skin. I have to buy special soap if I wanna shower really well, considering I'll get sick and throw up a lot if I use stuff that is too strong."
"I didn't know that."
"Most people don't."
"Well now I do. Finally, are you being serious that Duncan tried to rape you?" Scott asked, his voice soft.
"...I'm not ashamed of what happened but he did try to rape me. Three times. I told Kitty it was only twice...but there was a third time. I have it on tape in my bag."
"What?"
"Apparently, the idiots decided to beat me up and attempt to abuse me underneath a hidden camera for the school's parking lot. I figured out where I was and saw the camera pointed straight at me. The next day got into the school's security office. I found the tape from the day and made sure to take it with me." Todd looked away for a moment. "That tape is going to be part of my exposing and then finally finishing this war between Duncan and I."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked, his voice getting just a touch more stern.
"You'll see. But that's enough from me now. Come on, yo. I'm hungry," Todd said as he turned and walked up the hallway, disappearing through the door at the top of the stairs. Scott looked at Todd's retreating form for a moment and sighed. Once again, disaster was averted...but for how long?
*****A/N: You know, these chapters are taking longer and longer to produce. But the quality is good. So that is good to know.
I'm looking for a muse, someone who can help me flesh out plots for my work and theirs. Anyone want to take the job, let me know. My profile has all my contact information. AIM is your best bet.
I know I said the next chapter of this story would have the rest of the Brotherhood but this little scene was far too good to pass up. Brotherhoodness will be soon...that is, if you review. All this is because of ya'll. So please, if you've gotten this far, do me a favor and review. Holla back. :D