Not Myself
By Princess Alexandria
"You said you wanted more hands on work." Liam grinned as he opened his front door.
Rob gave Liam a small smile in response as he followed the man down the stairs to the famed basement. The slight glance he gave the pen in his pocket wasn't noticeable, he knew how to cover those moves, but whatever was said here tonight could be good evidence, admissible in court or not. The tape Shortpack was making on his end needed to be as clear as possible.
The basement was mostly unfinished, and ran the length of the house. A large table was placed in the center of the largest section, with a light above it and several chairs around it. Rob glanced briefly at the men in the room, recognizing most of the faces if not the names as he took in the environment. The solid looking walls and heavy door to another room downstairs looked a bit out of place He'd bet it was locked as well. Eventually he had to get a look inside. He was pretty sure they brought the mutants here to torture to death, and it looked like a cell.
"Rob, this is the guys." Liam put his arm over Rob's shoulder and pointed to the others. Having that man that close, it was a challenge to not move away or show disgust at being near him. "Steve, you meet the other night." He pointed at the forty something year old man with slightly graying temples. "And Jacob." Jacob abandoned talking to a small cluster of these nine men. "you know him." Liam pointed to the men Jacob had been talking with. "Mr. Baseball over there is Ernie. He's a little league coach." That narrowed it down to the one wearing a baseball hat. "And that loser is Cliff." The other man flipped Liam off in a joking way. Introductions continued this way and Rob had more names to investigate once this night was over. Sam, Woody, Norm, and Kelsey rounded out the group.
"Here is your robe and here is your hood." A voice whispered in his ear and Rob managed to not smile. Christy wasn't playing fair. "Join us for the barbeque on the neighbor's lawn at midnight." The pause made him think it was over and he was still nodding his hellos when Christy went a little further. "Bow to the great Voldemort." She spoke when Rob was saying hello to Steve. Rob had to smile, but Steve just smiled back, unaware of the insult. It made Rob smile a little more. When radio silence resumed Rob was sure it was because Shortpack told Christy it was enough to let Rob know they'd managed to follow Liam's car. He could have done it, but this was still a training mission. Shortpack had to be glaring at Christy at that moment.
Following them would have been a challenge without the bug on Rob. Liam wasn't a complete idiot. He'd picked Rob up somewhere else and drove him here. The excuse that finding the place would be hard sounded genuine, but most likely it was so that if Rob didn't follow through with his part tonight they could get rid of him easier.
Everyone was moving towards the table so he did as well, and that brought another wall into view. His eyes traveled to the articles all hung like trophies and they looked very familiar. A raid on this house would clue the police in enough. They had every crime they'd committed on that wall. He turned back to the now serious looking men. "You said you wanted to make a statement." Liam spoke as they moved to sit around the table. "Well, here is where we make statements." Rob knew that. He'd even had to clean up after these men murdered a couple to earn the trust needed to be invited into the group.
You getting all of this Shortpack? Rob thought to his handler as Liam and Steve outlined what this elite group of citizens did. He kept his expression interested and pleased, even as he looked forward to his change to beat these men. Prison seemed too good for them, and once again he cursed a system that wouldn't give them the maximum sentence, just because their victims were mutants. Hopefully they'd get a sentence at all.
Every last word. Shortpack's response was perfect. Rob leaned back in his chair and started to relax.
"We used to split up into two groups and cover more ground." Steve spoke again and Rob could see the other men fidgeting a little. "But we lost two good men to a filthy mutie not too long ago. Some government we have, that allows things like that to carry guns." He sounded disgusted.
"The muties got away." Liam took over explaining this and Rob was forced to look away from Steve. It was a shame, because he would have loved to see his expression and see if there was even a hint of reaction to one of them being Steve's own daughter. "We got ambushed by some bitch in the woods. She killed Martin and Craig, Sam's little brother." Several sympathetic eyes moved toward Sam and Rob could tell that man took it personal. They all seemed to be dismayed that someone would fight back and hurt them. Like any creature wouldn't have the right.
And Charles thought peace was the way. That old man never saw these basement headquarters, and they were all over the country. For a telepath, he remained selectively blind to the real world.
………….
"Finally." Christy muttered as the men started to head out of the house and load into two vans. It had been a long drawn out bitch session to build up the insane fervor needed to murder. Rob had contributed enough that men were laughing and joking with him on the way to the vans.
"I've got them on tracker, so lay back. We don't want them seeing you." Shortpack spoke from his spot on the passenger side of this small car. Christy had parked near a neighbors house and further away from the main road so that these bastards wouldn't need to drive past her. Christy leaned the drivers seat back and did what she was told. She felt a bit too vulnerable not being able to see the enemy, and started to listen harder to make up for that. She could hear two vans start and when she heard the motors get further away she glanced at Shortpack.
"All clear."
She was up and starting the car quickly. There was no way they'd loose Rob. Shortpack turned up the volume on the computer as she drove.
"How do we pick them?" Rob's voice filled the car.
"Mutant detector." Those two words have Shortpack and Christy sharing a panicked look, "or we will once we save enough. Those damned things should be on more than just casinos." The other voice continued and Christy relaxed her back, which had tensed up. "Now we just look for obvious ones, or ones we see using their powers. Also there's a bar in town. We'd shut it down, but it draws the mother fuckers like flies to shit."
"Or shit to flies." Another male voice laughed.
"Turn left here." Shortpack spoke and Christy moved to take it naturally even though she hadn't been in the lane for it. Since it was a neighborhood road it wasn't all that busy. She could see the main road down a few blocks, and the van that was almost out of sight. If she'd had to follow visually they would have noticed her eventually. "I think their talking about the Ladders Bar, it's the only mutant bar I was able to find in the area."
"You been bar hopping without us?" Christy smirked as she took the next turn they needed.
"No, well… my friend took me there." There was still talk going on in the van, but nothing important sounding. "But there are listings available of these places if you know where to look. Tacoma has one and the Seattle area had two."
"And we couldn't have visited one?" Christy had been out with Mystique a few times and never got to see these places.
"No dancefloor. That pretty much makes them uninteresting to our dancing queen. Also they are mutant bars, not lesbian bars. I haven't seen Mystique even look interested in a man since I met her." Shortpack looked at his computer again. "Take a left here and we can get there first. I'm sure that's where they're going. It'll be easier to follow them if they don't see us get there."
"How are they gonna blend with such a large group." Christy muttered as she moved into position and waited for the vans to get there. The bar was low key looking, but she'd parked closer to a different place. She watched the two vans pass her and one pulled into a parking spot a block away. The other kept going.
"Probably break into groups, and meet up where they plan to attack once a target is found."
…………
Rob stood outside the van waiting for directions and glanced around the area subtly. Christy was down the street. Even though they'd picked a car that would blend in anywhere, it wasn't hard to spot when you knew what you were looking for. Christy was sitting in the car waiting, but it didn't look to obvious. She wasn't easily spotted from this far away.
"We'll split up. Three of us will stay here and watch for any couple that leaves the bar and starts walking down in that direction." Steve pointed away from most of the businesses. "They have parking and bus stops over there, and little lights. We DO NOT want these bastards to see us coming. You got that Rob?"
"Sure." It wasn't rocket science. They planned to jump a couple, drug them, shove those damned power inhibitor collars on them, and shove them in the back of a van.
"The other guys will just sit on their asses until I call them and tell them we're on our way." Steve then looked at the others with them. Liam was absent, but Jacob was with them, along with two others of the bastards.
"Anyone in the bar is a mutant? Why don't you shop here all the time?" Rob leaned against the van and stared at the bar. Who would have thought a city like this would have one.
"They'd figure it out too fast and then we'd be out of luck. We only come here when we're strapped for time. Otherwise we check out the make out spots." Jacob answered this time since Steve's attention was more focused on looking around. "It's also good for training new guys." Jacob moved closer and whispered. "Don't let me down man. I really put my neck out for you."
"No problem." Rob reassured him.
………….
Christy watched as the group of five split again. Jacob and Rob went down the street in one direction and the other three went the other. It wasn't long before the men were all in position to watch both doors to the bar.
"We know where they plan to jump the couple. Down the street you'll find the other van." Shortpack addressed her. "Put the computer in the bag and put it in the trunk. I had it modified. We can set me up in there." Talking to him would be a bit suspicious and she worried about being seen herself. She did what he asked and he actually slipped into the bag with it.
The trunk was empty, but a power supply for the laptop was set up toward the back of it. She moved quickly to set out the computer again and hook it up. Shortpack couldn't move it around himself. The trunk light didn't seem to be turning off as she closed the trunk.
"Walk down the street until you spot them. Keep walking until you're out of sight and then find a place to wait for further instructions." Shortpack's voice came across on the earring. Christy almost reached up to answer, but decided that didn't need an immediate answer. Not when one man was watching her, probably waiting to see if she went into the bar they were waiting on. Christy ran a hand through unfamiliarly short hair and started down the street, acting like she had a clue where she was going.
She was setting up an ambush of an ambush, it made her feel a bit more sure of her role in the night. She knew how to do this. Christy felt eyes on her as she passed the bar the F.O.H. was watching and did her best to not walk differently because of the scrutiny. She stared into closed shop windows as she walked past them down the street.
The well light street was only in the area of the small neighborhood shops, and Christy found herself struggling to think of a reason to be walking past those and down towards the parking lot she spotted the other van in. Her walk became faster and she acted like she was nervous about the darkness as she moved towards a bus stop. A glance at the bus numbers and she moved on. They would hopefully assume she was looking for her bus.
Some of the men were standing around the outside of that van smoking and talking as they waited. Christy took in the nearly empty parking lot, and the cars that looked like they lived there and knew this was good for the F.O.H. ambush, but she had to search for a counter spot to wait. The trees were sparse, the cars few, the buildings not nearby, and the men just watching for any movement. They were just watching her, and talking.
"You in position yet?" Shortpack asked.
Christy reached up subtly to fiddle with the earring until she heard the soft change in sound that indicated she had the air. "Not yet. They have the primary spot and since this isn't a straight kill job I'm having trouble finding a spot nearby." She could see a million spots for ambushes if she'd been shooting at them. Hell, this street looked familiar. She might have ambushed a group of raiders from her world on this streets double.
"Okay," His word dragged out a little too long. "Well, the bar will be closing soon, so maybe you should hurry."
"Never would have thought of that. I see why you make the big bucks." Christy grumbled, but she didn't turn the earring on so he'd hear it. She eyed the area again and made up her mind. She crossed the street after she'd passed the lot and kept walking away, towards the cross street. She could feel eyes on her the entire way and hated it. She wasn't used to being watched as she set a trap. She turned at the other street and walked until she was out of sight.
A quick look around and she didn't see anyone else there. This was why the bastards picked this spot. She moved quickly off the sidewalk, which at that point was just a dirt path, and into the sparse grass and trees. Once she had a small bush at her back she shifted into the black of her Demise form. It would blend in with this darkness better. She crouched down and moved closer to the targets. This empty lot next to the parking was for sale. She noticed that as she passed the sign. Like anyone would want it. All the good business spots were down the street.
As she got closer she moved to crawl. That was the only way to stay low enough for the bushes to do some good. She saw the broken down Ford truck and moved towards it and the back of the parking lot. "I'm in position." She whispered for Shortpack as she laid down on the ground and watched the men and van from the other side of that truck. The cement under her was cracked and rough. Hopefully she wouldn't have to lay there long. It also smelled of oil. "This place isn't great for the plan." She spoke quietly, betting that she was far enough away to not be overheard.
"I guess you'll get to see Mystique's world famous improvisation skills." He didn't sound overly thrilled either. She proceeded to describe the layout of the area, hoping he'd get a chance to slip the information to Mystique. Christy hated having to improvise on a mission. That meant danger. She preferred well thought out plans that worked.
She laid in silence as she felt the soft tickling feeling of bugs crawling on her fingers. She felt the slime of a slug when she tried to scoot a little to the left and gave up on moving at all. She couldn't see what she was moving into. She wiped her now slimy hand on her pants and promised herself a shower when she got home.
"They have a target." The words were announced and Christy strained to hear the phone. She stared at the man that spoke into it briefly and then shoved his cell phone in his pocket.
"Look alive." Liam's voice was a little louder. Christy shifted her mask on. It was time.
………….
Demise is in position. Rob got the mental message Shortpack sent as he and Jacob walked along the sidewalk after a couple. They boy looked a bit young to be in the bar, but you couldn't always tell a mutants age. Mystique was proof of that. He smiled sweetly at his girlfriend while walking on the side of the sidewalk nearest the street. So many boys of this time forgot the simple courtesies like that. The girl was clearly a mutant, and the boy was most likely one, but for the Friends of Humanity purposes he was one by association. The girl had porcupine quills for hair, which laid back for the most part and didn't extend past her shoulders. Rob noticed they moved as she laughed and that the boy knew better than to get too close to them at that point. If she'd really planned to fight her she would take the hint that those were dangerous.
"When we get near the parking lot we'll start to make it obvious we're following them." Jacob spoke quietly. "The idea is they'll be so intent on us that they'll miss Liam. We just herd them in and his group will dart them.." A glance showed that the other men were on the other side of the street walking in the same direction. "They'll join us when we get closer." Jacob explained. "We don't want to tip our hand too soon."
Tell Demise It still felt a little strange to use that woman's codename, That I heal fast. The information about the sparseness of the area they would fight wasn't welcome news. Demise was not ready to take on ten men alone. She's gonna need to throw me with some strength to get me out of sight.
If you get injured you won't be any good to her. She hasn't practiced her strength. She won't know how hard to throw.
No time like the present to learn. Rob noticed the men across the street crossing towards them and knew it was almost time.
"Brandon." The girl's voice sounded wary as it traveled back to Rob, who had turned his hearing up a notch. "I think we're being followed."
Brandon glanced back and Rob could see the boy's back tense as he realized that five men were walking down the normally rather deserted street after them. "If they do anything, stay behind me. I'll protect you Quill." Rob could see the nervousness in him as those two started to walk faster, and in just the way the F.O.H. wanted them too.
………….
Demise stared unblinking at the van, taking in every movement the five men did in preparation. She was crouched in front of the truck, but her black outfit helped her blend. The men were too busy watching the street and double checking their dart guns nervously. Bastards should be nervous. She was back and she'd killed last time she caught them doing this. She was unmoving like a statue, while also tensed for action. Once they moved out she would.
The sudden wave of motion was her clue. Demise darted forward, determined to take out these men's element of surprise. "GUN!" She called out to whoever was going to be the unknowing target as she slammed an elbow into one man's back. He grunted in pain as he was shoved to the ground, hitting his head. He didn't get back up. It was then that Christy was out where she could see what was happening. A boy and girl were staring at her in shock and five men behind them as well. The F.O.H. had been waiting until the kids were almost to the van before moving. Demise smirked evilly. "Hello again." She stared at Liam. He looked confused before yelling.
"This isn't any of your business. Leave."
Christy laughed as the four men with dart guns turned on her, leaving the young couple uncovered. Her laugh hinted to the insane and her smile grew. "Aw, how cute." She stared at the guns. "But those wont work on me flatscans."
………….
Shortpack, tell the kids to run. They're just staring at her. Rob sent as the standstill held, knowing the fighting would start soon. He was just staring at Demise too. Her voice was just a bit off, too cheerful, and her smile completely unconcerned. Demise looked like she wanted the fight, and it confused the men that thought they had the upper hand. Rob took in the outfit, now fully appreciating its affect. Demise's skin was so pale in the moonlight. She looked like a dangerous goddess standing there.
"Shoot her." Rob yelled as he started to move in their direction. He and Jacob were still the closest, and he wanted to get there before the rest of the bastards did. The kids were forgotten and running quickly, just what they'd wanted. "She's a mutie… shoot her."
His movement ended the standstill and he could hear the dart guns going off. Demise assured Rob before the mission that those things didn't work on her, and she'd been hit by Liam's darts before. As Rob rushed to cross the street he watched Demise slam a fist into another man and grab his gun with the other hand. She smashed it against the side of the van.
"You never learn do you Liam." She addressed Liam, who was shooting at her while keeping his distance. "You couldn't put me out on the beach, what makes you think it'll work now?" Rob was a little impressed with the flirtatious tone in her voice as she spoke. Demise really did like to mess with people's heads.
"It was you?" Liam barely got that out when Rob threw himself through the air for the last few steps and tackled Demise, all the while hoping it wouldn't startle her too badly and make her loose her concentration. He slammed into her side and they both fell to the ground sliding further away from the van. He could feel the darts in her body as his own pressed down on her and me moved to do a very sloppy hold on her while staring into her eyes. He flashed his yellow eyes briefly and noticed her resolve strengthen in the set of her jaw. They'd practiced this move before.
Demise got her foot between them and carefully and quickly placed it on his stomach. "Everything you got girl." He whispered softly. He saw the worry in her eyes, the mask didn't cover that, just a moment before he felt he pressure and air whipped past him as the ground got further away. Oh shit, this better clear the truck or it was gonna hurt. Rob waited until the arch shifted and the ground was getting closer to twist his body, relieved to see the trajectory took him past the truck that had been a good twelve feet away from where he'd been tossed from. For a moment he'd worried that Christy was stronger and he'd find himself far too high to land safely or that she wouldn't have the strength to toss him over the truck from so far away, either would have taken him out of this fight. He trusted that Demise had done what she was supposed to and got up to fight immediately, drawing attention away from Rob's graceful spin before he fell on the other side of the truck.
Once his feet hit the ground and he regained control he squatted down and shifted back to his true form. Mystique rubbed her stomach where she was sure she'd have a bruise the size of Demise's boot if she didn't have the ability to cover things like that. "Good girl." She whispered as she moved to a spot she could see. This was Demise's field test, and Charlie would want a report.
The sounds of the struggle and occasional curses traveled down the block. Someone would call the police if this went too long and none of them could afford that.
Mystique watched with a little pride as Demise flipped Sam over her shoulder and slammed her foot on his crotch when he was down, making him curl into a pain filled ball. Her new apprentice had a cruel streak. Demise was then safe to ignore him for a bit and focused on the men in front of her. Mystique hated staying out of the fighting when she saw the half circle of me surrounding Demise. This was too many.
How is she doing? Shortpack's voice interrupted her thoughts.
Demise is still in action, but I can't see her taking on this many alone.
Just until she needs you. His mental voice was softer. He must have caught some of her concern. She needs to learn.
She wasn't ready for this. Mystique watched as Demise kicked Cliff and tried to follow it up with a more disabling hit only to be grabbed from behind by Norm. Demise slammed her head back and hit him in the nose. He let her go. Blood trailed down his face.
Now who wants to coddle her? Shortpack spoke softly and then cut the connection. Mystique grimaced as she realized what she'd been doing. He was right. Demise had to be learn somewhere, and it was better for her to do it when she had backup waiting, than alone some night.
Two men moved forward to grab her as Demise focused on the fight in front of her. She wasn't able to watch them all when they circled her like that and it wasn't looking good. Mystique moved to stand up. She'd tell Demise where she screwed up later, but she'd screwed up too badly to get out of that hold. Mystique could see Demise struggling to get free and it wasn't happening.
………….
Demise kicked at Jacob when he moved to try and help the other two hold her. The man flew into the van and looked stunned. She ignored the pang of guilt that caused her and focused on the two men holding her arms. It hadn't taken long for her to be overwhelmed by the numbers, although four men were out of the game now. They kicked her feet out from under her and she fell to the ground with two men still holding her, keeping her down.
"Get the inhibitor!" Liam yelled as Demise struggled. "Bitch is strong, get the inhibitor!" She felt another pair of hands hold her legs.
"I could use a little help." She finally called out when she found she couldn't break from the hold. It felt a little like failing a test. She was stronger, but that only worked for so long. She apparently wasn't super strong.
"I thought you'd never ask." Mystique's voice teased, "Waiting until you had three men on you. Greedy girl."
The sound of fighting came with the men on her holding tighter, so when they were tossed off of Demise it hurt a bit. They didn't let go right away, and it jerked at her already strained joints. It was a brief pain and faded quickly as she stood up to see Mystique grinning flirtatiously at her.
When Mystique turned to hit the man trying to sneak up behind her Demise got to her feet and dove back into the fight. Her hands shifted and she slammed sharp fingers over a thigh. A man screamed and blood trailed down his leg. She just gave a small smile and moved toward a new man.
A glance toward Mystique showed that woman moving like a gymnast, leaping over men and hitting them hard. She was graceful as hell out in the open. The garage sparing really do show what that woman could do.
Soon Demise found her hand around Steve's neck as she slammed him against the van. She wanted to tell him how his little girl deserved better than a bastard father like him, but she didn't. It was best none of them realized the connection was personal between Demise and Jessi. "So you're the great leader of the killers around here." Her voice was a low purr and she leaned into him. "I'm a killer too." She whispered teasingly. "I killed your boys on the beach, and if you keep this up I'll kill all of you, slowly, so very slowly."
The slam into her back made her let go and Demise's outfit got fuzzy for a second before she was able to get it back. She spun to see Rob standing there. She hadn't noticed Mystique disappear. Hopefully she came up with a good cover for that, but the woman was no amateur. She would have done it right. "Get away from him you freak!" He was holding a pipe, one that could have hurt a lot more if Rob really wanted to hit her. This was for show.
Trying not to over do it, Demise stepped back and winced like she was in more pain than she was. Her real pain was fading fast. "I'll be seeing you all again." Demise smirked. She spun around and ran down the street. A brief glance showed none of those men were able to chase her. They were still picking themselves up off the ground.
She moved into a darkened alley and shifted into Chris. She remembered to check for witnesses before walking out calmly and making her way back to the car. Her hand moved to her earring, which miraculously wasn't ripped off in the fight. "Checking in. Fights over."
"You alright Demise?" Shortpack asked, but he sounded busy.
"Yep." She walked like a woman nervous to be out alone at night. It excused her faster than normal pace.
"Well Mystique is being praised for saving Steve, and their picking up the injured. It'll take a little while from the sounds of it." He paused. "You cut someone." Christy remembered it, she hadn't gone too deep, but blood would frighten them, so she made sure she drew some. She wanted these men afraid of her and her fighting skill didn't warrant it. She'd almost lost.
"It's just a flesh wound. He's a big baby."
"Okay. I didn't want them taking Mystique to the hospital, but if he's the most seriously injured they might not feel the need." He paused. "Mystique says you need work."
"Understatement." Christy sighed. "There were too many of them."
"You've never sparred with more than one person at a time. I should have thought of that. We should have thought of that." He sounded like he blamed himself.
"Well, mission accomplished." She didn't want him beating himself up over this. Now that she thought about it she could see what went wrong. She'd been focused on the men in front of her, and couldn't split her attention to cover them all. That was how they'd caught her. Before she could start to feel ashamed of her performance another voice spoke.
"Tell Demise that she didn't do too badly for a rookie, but we'll be working on that." Rob was whispering.
Shortpack spoke softly. "I thought you'd appreciate that soundbyte. The F.O.H. are heading back to Liam's to lick their wounds."
"Who's going to lick that man's crotch I stepped on? He'll need help." She smiled. She was feeling a bit better and she remembered some of the things she thought she did right. It wasn't a complete disaster. "Tell Mystique she should volunteer, build the trust."
"I'll leave that to you when you get back." He chuckled.
……………
"Who the hell was that?" Sam muttered. He was still having trouble straightening out. Demise slammed his crotch rather hard.
"That was the freak that killed your brother." Liam answered and Rob watched Sam's face redden. Rob had ended up in a van with Liam, Steve, Sam, and Norm. The other van was following them back to base.
"It's true." Steve called back from the driver's seat. "She admitted it. She also threatened us."
"Can't let the mutie bitch get away with that." Norm said while keeping the rag to his bloody nose.
"Oh, I think we'll see her again." Rob added softly.
"You bet you will big boy. I can't believe you hit me with your oversized pipe." A teasing whisper in his ear went unnoticed by the others.
He sent a mental message to Shortpack. Tell our dark goddess of death that if she keeps teasing me in that breathless voice I'll show her my other oversized pipe.
Keep me out of your guys flirting please. Was all he got in response. Shortpack sounded a little embarrassed.
"What about the other one?" Sam asked
"I didn't get a good look at her." Steve spoke while turning at a light.
"Blue freak with red hair." Norm answered. "She's the one that nailed me. She's like a god damn monkey, hard to catch." Rob grimaced at the familiar description of her true form.
"Great, we got two muties that think they're superheroes. What the hell are they doing in Tacoma? I thought those type of superfreaks stuck to big cities."
"They won't be here long. The darts didn't work, but it's time we started carrying something a little stronger anyhow." Liam's voice was cold. "We see those freaks again and they won't get a chance to run away."