It's All Relative
Chapter Four
Almost a week had passed since the Brotherhood had taken Morph. The X-Men had formed a mutual bond with the government-sanctioned team of X-Factor to keep the constant riots under control. Beast and Forge worked together on re-building the Blackbird after Magneto had destroyed it upon their final encounter. Jean, meanwhile, had devoted almost every waking moment to searching for any trace of Morph or the Brotherhood.
Cyclops sat in the War Room with his head down on the table. He was physically and emotionally exhausted, and he wasn't the only one.
He looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder and smiled as Storm handed him a hot cup of coffee.
"You would probably be more comfortable sleeping in your room, my friend," she smiled softly.
"No doubt," Cyclops nodded, sipping his coffee. "But there is just too much going on right now for a good night's sleep, I'm afraid."
"There is, indeed, no rest for the wicked," Beast commented as he entered the room.
"That's our only assurance that Mystique and her cronies are just as run down as we are," Cyclops replied sarcastically.
The door slid open and Jean walked in. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she slowly moved over to sit beside Cyclops.
"Any luck?" he asked her, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"There's no trace of any of them," she shook her head. "They're smart enough to lay low and Cerebro can't pick up on them because they aren't using their mutant powers. And I don't even know where to look."
"Do not worry, Jean," Storm assured her. "We shall discover where they are hiding."
"Scum always rises to the surface," Cyclops agreed.
"The Brotherhood, like many other mutants, believes that they must protect mutantkind from humanity, Scott," Jean shook her head. "Although we may not agree with their tactics, there are two sides to every war."
"Are you saying that they're right to cause trouble and start riots, risking innocent people's lives in the process?" Cyclops raised an eyebrow.
"I'm saying that they believe they're right," Jean corrected him. "And they will do everything in their power to succeed in what they have set out to do."
"If only we knew what that was," Storm said understandingly.
"Trask, are those weapons finished yet?" Henry Gyrich asked his partner, entering their lab.
"It's a delicate process, Gyrich," Bolivar Trask replied without looking up from his work. "These weapons have the most intricate circuitry I've ever worked with. Far more advanced than my Sentinels."
"Whatever," Gyrich rolled his eyes. "The point is that it's been a week, and the Head Council is losing patience."
"Here," Trask stood up and handed Gyrich a device from the ones on the table. "This one is finished. The rest of these will take me a few more days."
"Excellent," Gyrich grinned widely, an evil twinkle in his eye.
Sabretooth paced up and down the halls of the Russian military base he and Velocity had secured earlier that month. His impatience was getting the better of him, and he marched into the room where Toad was working. There were computers and viewscreens everywhere, and the small mutant was hard at work at one of the consoles.
"Can't you work any faster?" he snapped at him.
"Settle yourself, big guy," Toad smirked. "Genius cannot be rushed."
"Genius, my ass," he snarled.
"Temper, temper, pussycat," the other grinned. "We wouldn't want to accidentally use our powers and have those X-freaks pinpoint our location, would we?"
"Bring 'em on," Sabretooth retorted. "Better than being cooped up here with you jackasses."
"Right, you do that then, mate," Toad nodded. "Then I'll watch you explain to Mystique about why our ingenious plan failed, how's that sound?"
"I don't care what Mystique thinks," Sabretooth stressed.
"Sure, sure."
Sabretooth roared his frustration and Toad chuckled to himself as the big mutant stormed out of the room.
Velocity lay on the bed in the quarters she'd designated as hers. Pyro lay next to her, regarding her quietly, entwining his fingers around a lock of her dark hair. She was staring off into space, oblivious to the world around her.
"Nadia?" Pyro softly called her name, attempting to bring her out of her thoughts. "Nadia?" She blinked and shifted her gaze to meet his eyes. "You okay?"
She considered the question for a moment. "Not sure," she replied. "Ask me again, sometime."
"It just freaks me out when you're quiet for more than five minutes," Pyro grinned, and she reached up and flicked his nose. "Sorry, darlin', truth hurts."
Velocity pushed the blankets back, stood up, and began to get dressed. "I'm going to check the perimetre. Creed's to damn stubborn to do it."
"You sure?" Pyro sat up. "I mean, are you feeling up to going out there?"
"It's been a week," she said, casting a sideways glance at him. "And I can't use my powers anyway, so I think I can handle taking a walk."
"Just makin' sure, love," he replied. "It's my job to worry about you, right?"
She smiled, walked over to him and kissed him softly, running her fingers through his blond hair. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back onto the bed, rolling on top of her. He kissed her neck, but as he moved his hand down her body and brushed her ribs, she winced, air hissing through her clenched teeth as she inhaled sharply.
Pyro pushed himself off of her and sighed. "I'm sorry." She kissed his forehead and rolled off the bed. "Don't worry, love, soon enough we'll have those X-Men buggers right where we want 'em."
"Our attack is on humanity, Pyro, not other mutants," Velocity corrected him. "We cannot target the X-Men."
"If they get in the way, which they're sure to do, since we have their little mate, then it's their own fault," Pyro replied. "No bloody love lost between us and them, that's for damn sure."
"Yeah," Velocity frowned, and then left the room.
Pyro watched her go curiously, and then smacked himself on the forehead after realizing he'd forgotten that she was still thinking of Rogue.
"Stupid," he cursed himself, then got dressed and went to go visit Toad.
Beast frowned at the mess of parts before him. Repairing the Blackbird was proving to be a long and tedious process, and some days it seemed as thought they hardly made any progress at all.
Rogue and Jubilee entered the hangar as Beast was putting his tools away.
"How's it goin', Hank?" Jubilee asked hopefully.
"Well, Jubilation, I've heard it said that one's work reflects one's life," Beast said, motioning to the Blackbird, lying in disarray before him.
"Huh, ain't that the truth," Rogue agreed, eyeing the mass of metal and electronics. "Forge gone home, Beast?"
"Indeed he has," Beast nodded. "After quite a frustrating day, might I add."
"Magneto sure did a number on this thing," Jubilee commented.
"Y'all ain't kiddin', Sugah," Rogue smirked. "Anyway, we came down ta see if'n y'all needed a hand, Beast."
"That's very kind of you, Rogue, but all I need now is a hot cup of tea and a good night's sleep," Beast smiled politely.
Wolverine stomped into the main hall where Cyclops was saying goodbye to members of X-Factor: Havok, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch. He was getting very impatient with the lack of Brotherhood being found, and it was putting him in one of his moods.
"This ain't helpin'," he grumbled at them. "Standin' around when we should be out lookin' fer somethin'...anythin' that'll lead us to Morph."
"We'll be more likely to find a clue with a rested mind," Scarlet Witch said kindly.
"Ain't no rest for me till I find him, sister," Wolverine informed her.
"Wanda's right, Wolverine," Cyclops interjected. "And besides that, we've been searching for almost a week straight, and all we've managed to dig up is even more bad news."
"Oh really?" Wolverine raised an eyebrow. "So, you gonna tell me what this news is, or do I hafta say please?"
"We've found evidence that the Friends of Humanity have regrouped," Havok relayed the news. "Unfortunately, we haven't located their new headquarters, yet."
"Looks like I've got some huntin' ta do," Wolverine gritted his teeth.
"I'm with you, Wolverine," Quicksilver stated, clenching his fists.
"Sorry, Bub," the Canuck shook his head. "I'm workin' alone on this one." He walked out the door.
"Logan!" Quicksilver called after him. "At least let me come along to watch your back! Besides-" he sprinted over to him, "-it's not like I can't keep up."
Wolverine concealed his amusement. "Alright, Bub, let's go. Just make sure you don't get in my way, got it, Junior?"
"Got it," Quicksilver grinned, and fell in step beside Wolverine.
Hours of searching by moon and streetlight did not reveal any clues as to where the FOH were holding up. Wolverine and Quicksilver investigated both old headquarters, neither yielding any leads.
"Hold it," Wolverine stopped as they passed through an alley, both about ready to turn in.
"You find something?" Quicksilver joined him.
"Maybe," Wolverine carefully smelled the air, then bent to the concrete and did the same. "Scent's almost a week old, but it's there."
"What is it?"
"Avalanche," Wolverine replied simply. "Blob was with 'im. I can smell their anxiety, like they were waitin' fer somethin'. Must be why their scent's still here after so long."
"You wanna follow it?"
"Does Sabretooth really piss me off?"
"Lead the way."
Though the streets were virtually deserted, Quicksilver kept an eye out for trouble while Wolverine completely concentrated on following the faint trail.
"They stopped here," Wolverine said after a few blocks. "Then I think they took off that way, but it's hard to tell. Musta been when Rogue followed 'em to their hideout."
"What's so special about this place?" Quicksilver raised an eyebrow, and then took off around the building and back to Wolverine. "I don't see anything."
"Why has everything gotta be done fast with you, kid?" Wolverine mused. "Looks like this is the night I teach you about a true hunter's patience."
The door to the building opened, and Wolverine quickly pushed Quicksilver into the shadows and crouched down beside him.
"Or maybe not," Quicksilver grinned, and Wolverine shot him a look.
Two men emerged from the doorway and quickly zipped up their jackets, but not before Wolverine's keen eyesight spotted the gun each man had concealed inside, and the three bold letters printed on their white T-shirts.
"Friends of Humanity," he snorted.
"Looks like our buddy Lance wasn't just loitering after all," Quicksilver nodded. "What do you think the Brotherhood wants with these guys?"
"It ain't to invite 'em over for milk an' cookies, that's fer sure," Wolverine replied. "I swear, if we end up havin' to protect these slimeballs..." he let his sentence trail off, accenting his disgust by shooting out his adamantium claws and grinding them against each other.
"Cool it man, it won't go down that way," Quicksilver assured him.
"No, it won't," he agreed, watching the men disappear around the corner. He tapped the communicator on his belt. "Anybody still up?"
It took a few moments, and then Gambit's voice could be heard. "It is getting late fo' even Gambit, mon ami," he replied.
"Listen up, Cajun, I got some bad news," Wolverine was serious.
"Cyclops tell Gambit that you go to look fo' da Friends of Humanity's headquarters. You maybe have found dis den?"
"Yeah, an' I got a feeling that if we don't find the Brotherhood soon, things are gonna get a lot worse before they get better."
"Gambit don' like da sound o' dat. You maybe be wanting some back up, non?"
"Pietro's with me," Wolverine declined the offer. "I want you to make sure someone's on constant watch for mutant activity with Cerebro."
"Jean is dare."
"She can't handle it 24 and seven."
"What about Psylocke?" Quicksilver suggested. "She could give Jean a hand, right?"
"Sure, Bub," Wolverine nodded sarcastically. "And I suppose you know how to contact her?"
"No," Quicksilver admitted. "But I'll bet Worthington does."
"Good call. Okay, kid, make it happen. I want her at the mansion in the morning. Jean can handle the rest of the night," Wolverine instructed.
"Check," Quicksilver stood up, and sped away toward X-Factor's headquarters.
"Gambit has just t'ought of somet'ing, mon ami," Gambit, who had been silent for a few moments, said after Quicksilver had gone.
"First time for everything," Wolverine scoffed.
Gambit let the comment slide. "What if da guy dat hurt da professor is dealin' wit da Friends?"
Wolverine paused to ponder this new idea. "Along with Trask, Gyrich was the scum behind the Mutant Registration Program, and the Sentinels. If he's rubbin' elbows with these dirtbags, and they have more of those gizmos that put Xavier out of commission, we could all be in big trouble."
"Maybe you should get back here den, non?"
"For once, Cajun, I agree with ya."