Eight
Twelve hours ago if someone had thought to ask Lance Alvers what the worst moment of his life was he would have immediately flashed back to the fateful day his parents abandoned him to the Foster care system of Illinois state. That of course was before arriving at the rendezvous point he had set for his team when the Brotherhood had joined the X-men to fight the Acolytes and realized he was two members short of a full Hood. Instantly his stomach had lept into his throat threatening to cut off his air supply. The overwhelming anguish of the situation hadn't even set in when a rag tag group of X-Men lead by Lance's long time rival Scott Summers had appeared.
Scott's news had quickly brought the situation from bad to complete and utter cluster fuck in about five seconds. When the X-men had returned to the Xavier Institute they had been ambushed by more government agents-only Scott, Kitty Pryde, Piotr Rasputin and Psylocke had made it out safely. All the New Mutants, Storm, Jean Grey, Captain Britain and Professor X himself were on their way to join Spyke, Wolverine, and Beast in captivity. The smart money said that the missing members of the Brotherhood-Blob and Dazzler were with the X-Men.
It had meant swallowing an awful lot of pride to agree with Summers that they needed to rescue everyone and Lance had to cut himself an even bigger chunk when he called Mystique for help. None of the remaining X-men or Brotherhood members had the skills they would need to get the others out of a top secret government facility-especially not when they'd already successfully captured the Wolverine himself. That fact alone told him these were not people who would take kindly to a bunch of mutant kids blindly striking out at them. Lance wasn't suicidal.
Of course he was questioning his logic as he stood in the dark near an abandoned runway waiting for Mystique's plane to land stuck listening to the stick up Summers' ass wedge itself just a little higher. The others had holed up in a cave not too far away and both team leaders were debating leaving the Russian Colossus in charge of things-if Tabby and Betsy started fighting again they doubted even his steel skin could save him. Sighing Cyclops strained his ears for any sign of life, "I can't believe you got Mystique involved in this…why not call your White Queen?"
Lance rolled his eyes-it had been the same litany from the other boy since he had told them the shape shifter was on her way. "Because unlike Frosty; Mystique would actually come help us." He lifted an eyebrow as the faint sounds of the small plane stirred the silence of the night, "And where Mystique goes Nightcrawler and Rogue are sure to follow-we need all the help we can get."
Even in the darkness Lance could feel a cold chill run down Summers' spine-once the Hoodies and the X-Men had fought; not a rare occurrence in of itself-and Rogue had absorbed the lead X-Man to end the fight. Apparently, Scooter was still nursing a few ill feelings about the experience. Go figure.
The chit chat was cut off by the roar of the engines as the plane gracefully touched down and even above the noise Lance could hear Todd hopping through the woods towards them. The shaggy haired youth's groan was plainly heard as the engines cut out, "Where's Fuzzy, Yo?" Todd was hunched over looking every inch his moniker-Toad.
A small pop and a whiff of brimstone accompanied the appearance of Kurt Darkholme in all his blue, fuzzy glory, "Quickwart!"
Quickly the two friends were catching up on old times which consisted mostly of Todd relating his 'heroics' during the battle with the Sentinel. Lance crossed his arms and tried not to laugh while Summers merely lifted one eyebrow in question as Todd insisted he had taken the massive robot down on his own. "Funny," the cold clipped voice of Mystique rushed to meet their ears, "On television it looked like you were too busy catching flies to help your team."
"Uh…Mystique…" Despite the distinct green cast to his skin Todd seemed to pale.
The metamorph ignored the young boy's ramblings; focusing her attention on the two older teens-Lance wondered briefly where Rogue was hiding, "How many of you are left?"
"Other than me and Toad the only Brotherhood left is Boom-Boom." Lance supplied knowing that there wasn't time to beat around the bush.
Cold white eyes turned to Summers and Lance didn't envy Cyclops the glare Mystique was giving him, "And the X-men?"
"Myself, Shadowcat, Colossus and Psylocke," The other teen pushed his ruby glasses up his nose and glared back at the woman.
If Lance hadn't known better he would have said the unflappable Mystique looked shocked, "Where's Wolverine?"
"He was the first to be captured." All the earlier traces of scared kid fled as Scott slipped into his role as leader, "There's been no sign of Magneto since the battle either."
"There wouldn't be," blue lips curled into a faint smile, "It wouldn't be in his self interest to show his face when these people…" the word was spit out, "Have not only captured the Wolverine but Professor Xavier, Captain Britain and Storm. This isn't some illusion cooked up by a hairy scientist what makes you think you stand a chance against them?"
He hadn't thought it possible but the tension level between Cyclops and Mystique reached a cutting edge, Lance was certain they would kill each other right then and there when a familiar southern twang rolled out of the darkness, "Swamp Rat I don't want to have to tell you again-I could be powerless, you could be covered in chocolate and the last man on earth and I still wouldn't lick you."
The boys tried not to choke on their laughter and Lance would later swear Mystique's head spun around like "The Exorcist". Lance almost felt sorry for the unseen young male-almost. "Lebeau! I didn't bring you here to proposition my daughter." The blue skinned mother's voice rang out into the night.
Curiosity suitably aroused Lance watched three figures move in the darkness-Rogue's distinct white hair marking her out while the other two remained mere shadows. When they got close enough Lance took a good look at them; the male was tall and lanky, his long brown trench coat concealed well defined muscles and he moved with a feline grace reminiscing of Mystique. What made Lance snort with laughter was that the teen was wearing sunglasses at night-how cheesy was that? The smaller shadow stood off to the side making it difficult for Lance to tell if it belonged to a man or woman, the plain black combat pants, black jacket and hood aided to conceal the wearer.
Rogue crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her mother, "I don't need your help to take care of the Swamp Rat momma."
"You may not," the second shadow spoke with a light feminine voice, "But she did promise he would return home alive and whole. Your plan did involve one of my knives."
Kurt moved away from Todd and smiled at the girl, "Maybe you shouldn't have brought so many?"
One hand deftly pushed the hood back to reveal a young woman with big blue eyes and purple hair falling onto her impassive face, "There is no such thing as too many knives."
"Busy building an army?" Cyclops crossed his arms over his chest and spilt his glare between Mystique and the two unknowns.
Rogue snorted and shot the X-man a dark look, "You ask Jean Grey out yet?"
Before the vein in Cyclops' forehead could start throbbing Mystique lifted one hand and pointed first at the boy then the girl; weariness edged her golden eyes, "Gambit and Ghost-meet Avalanche, Toad and Cyclops. Now would you like us all to hold hands and sing 'Kumbya' or rescue your friends? My bullshit quota is full so make your choice Cyclops or we leave now."
"That's not much of a choice," the four-eyed teen frowned, "It's hardly fair that their lives count on me working with a criminal like you."
Lance watched as the girl-Ghost-moved closer to Cyclops her face neutral. It wasn't until Gambit placed a restraining hand on her thin shoulder that he and Scott realized she had a curved blade in hand ready to strike the X-Man. She froze under the Cajun boy's touch but rested her cold blue eyes on Scott making him shudder, "Life is hardly ever fair-you're a fool if you don't know that already. The longer you fight amongst yourselves the less likely it is that your friends will be alive and waiting for you."
"How do you know that?" Cyclops ignored the knife and took a step forward.
She shrugged faintly, "It's what I would do. Interrogate the prisoners-learn what I could then eliminate them as soon as possible. It's more practical than trying to hold twenty plus mutants indefinitely."
"That's cold yo," Todd froze staring at the girl as if she had grown an extra head-she in turned stared back with empty eyes.
The Cajun smiled as Todd lost the contest and turned away first shivering despite the warmth of the night, "Mebbe mon ami mais, dat's war."
"Who said we were at war?" Cyclops rounded on the taller boy frowning with no effect.
Gambit pulled out a pack of playing cards from his many pocketed trench coat and smiled amicably, "A giant robot attacked you. Your home was ambushed by a military group and ton amis are taken captive. Sounds like a war to Gambit."
"If ya'll are done scarin' the boy scout there," Rogue lifted an eyebrow at the other two teens and jerked a thumb towards the shape of Lance leading Mystique and Nightcrawler in the direction of the cave the others had hidden in, "Maybe we catch up and get this over with. I do have a trig quiz tomorrow and I need to study."
The five teens quieted and headed into the darkness keeping close behind the earth mover and the shape shifter.
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"Ladies please!" It would be a safe assumption to say that this was the worst day of Piotr Rasputin's young life; his mentor and friends had been captured, mutants were revealed to the world and he was stuck refereeing the mother of all cat fights while Scott was off God knows where with Avalanche to pick up Mystique and her terrorist children.
Tabitha Smith pointedly ignored the large metallic Russian as he tried once more to pull her away from Betsy Braddock's throat. During her brief time with the X-Men Piotr had been one of the few present to earn her respect but even that paled in the face of Betsy's infuriating snobbishness. There were days when Tabby really hated her boyfriend's twin sister. Today was one of them. "Listen Braddock-if you don't back off I'm going to shove a bomb down your…"
"As if you'd have the nerve!" the violet haired ninja stepped closer her eyes blazing purple fire, "I don't know why my brother insists on dating a common tart like you!"
Never willing to take abuse sitting down Tabby pushed past Piotr's arm to get into Betsy's face, "Guess we can't call be extraordinary tarts like you can we?"
Giving up with a long suffering sigh Piotr pulled away from the ever-feuding girls and sat down heavily next to his girlfriend Kitty Pryde. Some of the tension building in his shoulders eased as her tiny hand found his and gave it a faint squeeze while she lay her head against his arm. None of them had taken the time for petty concerns like sleeping since the Sentinel battle and subsequent attack on the Mansion and it was beginning to show. As much as Piotr didn't trust Mystique as far as he could through her, he was practical enough to realize that Avalanche had a point when he said they needed her help. Maybe with the blue woman around Tabby and Betsy would have someone else to antagonize.
"You know this isn't as bad as when Brian and Tabs first got together…" Kitty sighed flinching slightly as the girls began to circle each other a predatory gleam in both sets of eyes, "I thought Betsy was going to blow a gasket."
"Perhaps she did." Piotr shook his head-why couldn't they save their energy for a common enemy instead of wasting it on petty squabbles?
The petite girl snorted as she tried to contain her laughter-it wasn't often that Piotr made jokes-especially not good ones. Kitty leaned closer to hug him and to hide her smile from the combatants, if they saw her laughing at them it could spell disaster.
As they watched Betsy tensed to leap at Tabby but stopped mid air when a familiar voice cut through the darkness, "Jesus Bets I can't even leave you alone for an hour and you're trying to kill Tabby!"
A small guilty smile spread Betsy's lips as Lance Alvers entered the cave three strides behind the infamous Mystique, "Well luv I tried."
"They did…" Piotr interrupted and smiled thinly at the Brotherhood team leader, "They only just got violent."
"Yeah, they were like totally on their best behaviour." Kitty offered with a small shrug oblivious to the glares being shot at her by both girls.
"As touching as this is," Mystique's voice was cool and businesslike, "Do you think you could all attempt to act like adults for a short while so that we can get this over with, I am not a glorified babysitter."
In tandem the two girls turned to the blue mutant and crossed their arms over their chests while doing their best to glare at her in the faint light. In their respective circles no one would have continued in the face of their wrath-it certainly showed Mystique's mettle that she ignored both girls to snap at her own team. "You know Gambit-for some one so confident of his skills you moved through the woods like an elephant wearing tap shoes."
"Désol, Mystique," all three girls stilled as they caught sight of the young man who answered-high chiselled cheek bones, rich, shaggy auburn hair, a muscular body barely covered by his Kevlar body armour and trench coat-he was definitely a tasty specimen of maleness; "Mais, Fantôme don have a clue 'bout packin' lightly hahn."
He lithely set down one obviously heavy bag just inside the entrance to the cave and watched as Scott struggled with it's mate. Panting the X-Man dropped the bag and collapsed next to it. "You might want to avoid dropping the explosives next time." A slight girl dressed all in black entered with a third bag slung across her back, some of her purple hair drifted into her eyes as she carefully set it on the ground next to Gambit's.
"Gee Bets," Tabby's voice was saccharine, "Looks like some one else got Vapid Violet on sale."
"Oh luv," Betsy's concern was just as fake, "Maybe the bleach has fried your brain…did you think that was funny?"
Tabby's mouth opened to shoot out a comeback but was stopped short by Mystique's hand, "If either of you speaks again I will make you regret it."
Sullenly, they cooperated-Betsy wrapped her arms around Lance and perched on his lap while Tabby stood next to Piotr's hulking mass cracking her knuckles. The Bayville teen's attention was drawn as Todd appeared with Mystique's children-Nightcrawler and Rogue-the two boys carrying a fourth mysterious bag between them. Safe in the crook of Piotr's arm Kitty shook her head, "I like totally give…what's in the bags? Other than explosives I mean…"
The purple haired girl pointed to the first sack, "I figured you would be short of equipment. That one holds non-lethal implements." The soft shoed foot indicated the one in front of her, "This one- lethal. And the last com gear."
"Looks like you brought enough for a small army," Betsy quirked an eyebrow in appreciation from her point of view she could tell the girl had at least four blades on her-there could be others but even Betsy couldn't think of any where else to hide them.
The Rogue's eyes swept over the assembled group, "Isn't that what we are?"
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Muhahahahahaha. Two updates in one night! I am the Fan Fic Mistress! Oh yeah! *looks around* why are you all watching me…get away! Away I say!
I'm sorry if it seems a bit cut off at the end but I had to stop myself or this would go on and on forever…a never ending cycle of Betsy/Tabs/Rogue/Mickey/Mystique snark…it's soooooo much fun. And it seems strange for me to write Piotr/Kitty as a happy couple-it almost goes against my nature! So what does everyone think of my AU X-Men and B-Hood…good, bad…plague on my house for subjecting you to such drivel? Feel free to yell at me for ruining your favourite character anytime.
So now for the reviewers….
Star of Chaos – Want a cough drop? *g* I know I've been bad about my reviews of late…mostly because I haven't been reading anything…it's a vicious cycle I know. But don't the review and big emails help? I must say Eileen's review caused a happy dance…just like when Ish started reviewing me…then you…hell I happy dance for every review. You made me *squeal* too! I gave everyone a reprieve from twitchy-ness and updated quickly for once.
Rouge's Heart – Merci beaucoup…Another fan of the random happy dance yes! You shall survive…I'm updating…really I am…I figured out the plot.
PyroPerson –Thanks for the heads up…at first when I was writing this I used the proper French "mal au ventre"…but in the course of my wandering I found a site with Cajun slang and sayings… "mal ou couer" is the slang and I do remember hearing it used when I spent some time in Louisiana. Like I said though…thanks for pointing it out to me.
Spectra2 – I sort of know what happens…I mean I have definite ideas…but who knows…I change my mind like I change my underwear.
Ishy – Still no cameo…sorry…when we get back to New Orleans…I swear…and you'll be with your friends Caliente and Star of Chaos…So I messed with your privileges by changing a few things and by writing the largest chapter in the history of my being a Evo writer…oh my. Muhahaha…I will not tell if or how Mickey gets out of marrying Julien…that's one thing I won't tell you no matter how much you tempt me. Like I said…I go barefoot or in sandals everywhere…I know how evil heels can be *Shudder* Glad you like the open deceit between Mickey and the grandpooba Assassin…I figured he wasn't some one easily deceived by BS. Hold the impressive squeals…so far I've gotten through a whole chapter without breaking them up…that's good right?
Peace215 - *GOSH* the death of you…I hope not…you write lovely long reviews…that's good in my books. Yep there are heaps of reasons to hate Julien...everyone has several. Yep, in my world Alison Blaire or Dazzler is a member of the Brotherhood…kill me later. Yep, that's as close to fluff as I can get right now…but I have a plan in my pocket that will bring them together. The fuzzy one will be fine…no worries…I mean it's everyday a guy finds out the girl he likes is trapped in a loveless arranged marriage. The only headline right now is that I'm blushing…surely this isn't the best AU out there…there are some good ones….
Extacy – Another new face! Yay! More readers! Happy dance! I hope you enjoyed your hint of Rogue/B-Hood goodness.
SickmindedSucker- I would never condemn an entire sex for the crimes of the majority of it's members…I'd just enslave them. I thought of who will steal Bella's heart away from Remy…muhahahahaha…boy will it be a surprise when it happens…oh yeah! No 'accidental' shootings…things like that happen in the Cypher Arc…here there will be a progression. Okay…really I just like making you suffer.
Kitrazzle Fayn – Yep…updatey goodness all for you…I'm still waiting about the bit characters though…I love ideas.
Rogue Pryde – A new fan…yay! Giggly is good…reviewing is better. Nope, Mickey's all mine…I'm fighting a never ending battle to keep her from Mary Sueness. But I'm glad you like her. I do respond well to begging…look an update!
Pixie Flyer – No cyanide pills yet…I promise you can have him when I'm done…and Scott too.
UndyingImmortal – Fond…Hardcore…Yippie! I like happy Immortals…they don't hunt me for my head…
Oracle – Thanx
Frozen Fire – I know…evil ba…never mind. It's up in my author's page if you really, really want it. I must agree with you…I adore my little ball of Cajun testosterone…but I just can't let them be happy yet. How about I let you and Pixie Flyer finish off Julien when I'm done with him?
Melancholic - *takes a bow* thank you. So many new faces…it makes me want to dance! Yep, believe it or not Mickey is all mine…I am capable of original thought! YES! Take that grade 12 English teacher! I think I added some comas….I realize I'm fond of long sentences…thanks for the grammar update.