Disclaimer: None of the mutants belong to me. Anything familiar you read below is most probably not mine either.
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A/N:
Sorry I took too long in updating. This chapter was pretty painful to write—I got hit by the big writer's block. I tried to write at least a paragraph a day, but there are times when I just stare at the computer screen, lost in thought. Anyway, school's back. Don't worry though. I think I write better under stress than if I'm on vacation. =)
R & R! Thanks!
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Chapter 5*
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The bell signaling the beginning of the lunch period resonated through the halls of Bayville High.
The male students of the math class of Mr. Broomworth held their breath as their eyes instinctively swiveled towards the back of the room.
That was where the student popularly known only as Rogue sat.
They watched as she slammed her book shut and rose from her desk. Their eyes never left her as she traveled from her seat to the door. That was all they could do—watch. They knew they could never go further than that.
So they watched. They watched as she exited the room, only to be greeted by her brother. Her brother, Kurt Wagner, was leaning casually on the doorframe. When he saw his sister, he pushed himself from his casual position and stood up straighter to walk with Rogue to the cafeteria, as was their custom since their rooms right before lunch were near each other.
Kurt was one of the reasons why the boys couldn't do anything but watch Rogue.
As Rogue walked out of their view, they let out a collective sigh as they, too, began to collect their things into their bag.
Kurt and Rogue. The Darkholme siblings. A lot of rumors circulate around the two, one of which was why they have different last names.
One rumor had it that Principal Darkholme gave birth to twins, Kurt and Rogue, but they had different fathers. One talk with Mr. McCoy of the science department quickly eliminated that possibility. Another rumor was that Principal Darkholme was married to Kurt's father, but had a short but passionate affair with Rogue's father immediately after Kurt was born. When she became pregnant with Rogue, Kurt's father left her (or vice versa. It was never clear who of the two was older). But perhaps the most popular rumor (and the most logical one) was that Rogue was the daughter of the principal's friend, and when the friend died, Rogue was orphaned and quickly adopted into the Darkholme household. That would explain Rogue's sudden appearance in the beginning of sophomore year, but that doesn't explain who or where Kurt's father is, or why the last name.
But no matter. All that mattered is Kurt was very protective of his sister. And whoever wants to go out with his sister, has to go through him first.
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There were two popular groups in Bayville High, the two being at odds with each other. One was led by Jean Grey, although if you ask them, they were officially led by Scott Summers (but Summers is in the B-List, but never mind). The other, by the teenage rebel Lance Alvers.
During lunch, the two groups sat on opposite side of the cafeteria, far away from each other so that they wouldn't accidentally stray into the other's turf, but not so far as they couldn't keep an eye on their rival group. No one outside the group knew how the rivalry started. But everyone knew the tension that fills up the air once one member of the groups strays towards the other.
Which was why today was such a surprise.
The two usual seats that they occupy was empty, which wasn't surprising. It was early still, and it would be sort of uncool to show up on time.
What was surprising was that both Lance Alvers and Scott Summers were there—and they were making their way in the middle of the caf, instead of towards their respective corners.
"I don't know why we're wasting our time here," Alvers told Summers with a malicious gleam in his eyes.
Summers growled. "We need to plan for this. Walking into this thing unprepared would lead to our failure."
Anticipating a fight, the lunchroom watched in comparative silence, holding their breath. They didn't hear what the two men were saying, but their body language told them enough that one wrong move, one wrong word, and the fight of the century would erupt. But all were disappointed when all the two did was face at each other. The two didn't say anything more, just faced at each other. Moments later, the crowd lost interest and went back to their usual business.
"Yeah, yeah," Lance muttered as he began to walk away. "This afternoon then,"
"Alright." Scott nodded. "Nightcrawler's our man."
"Good. Shadowcat's in." With that, Lance walked towards his usual table.
Later, Jean Grey showed up hanging on one arm of self-proclaimed football god, Duncan Matthews. Jean and Duncan sat down on the table usually reserved for football players and cheerleaders. She saw Scott leaving from his brief meeting with Avalanche. Jean sighed. All of them wanted to skip class and start looking for the professor, but they need to keep up some semblance of normalcy to keep appearances. Destiny's journals had warned them that someone was always watching…
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"So what have you guys decided on, yo?" Todd asked as he attempted to steal something that remotely resembled a fry from Fred's tray.
Fred half-heartedly swiped at him. His gaze was focused elsewhere, namely on one Jean Grey.
"That the meeting in the Institute is still on tomorrow," Lance replied.
"So why are we stepping willingly into their turf?" Wanda demanded.
"That way, we won't worry about breaking things when push comes to shove," Lance replied with an evil smirk.
"Who's going again?" Wanda asked.
The deal was that three of the Brotherhood was to meet with three of the X-Men, two to be chosen by the teams while the third one was to be chosen by the other team.
Lance and Rogue raised their hands like good little children.
"And they chose Kurt to go," Lance added.
"Good," Kurt rubbed his hands in anticipation. "That way I could keep that dirty Cajun from hitting on my sister!"
"Pietro and Fred would come until outside the mansion, to make sure that nothing bad happens,"
Wanda shrieked. "You are not leaving me alone with him!" She motioned to Todd.
"But, sugarpie!" Todd protested but immediately quieted down when Wanda glared at him.
"Pietro can't go in there," Rogue added. "Daniel is in there."
"It'll be Wanda and Fred then." Lance sighed. "Can you handle that, Blob?"
Fred nodded with a sinister smile. "I like to see them try something," he said, but deep inside, his thoughts were on a certain redhead.
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"So why are we willingly letting them into our turf?" Evan asked.
"That way, we could be sure we aren't walking into a trap," Scott replied. "I don't trust them."
Jean nodded. "But according to the professor's message, he did a mind-scan on a willing Destiny. What she saw was the real thing and the only way we could save them was if we cooperate with the Brotherhood,"
"They need us too," Kitty nodded. "I don't think they'd betray us or something,"
"Speaking of which, Kitty, Alvers chose you to go," Scott sighed in defeat. He was hoping the Brotherhood would choose Jean or even Gambit. He didn't want his younger members any exposure to their enemies if he can help it.
Kitty grinned, glad to get a piece of the action for once.
"So, who'll go with you, Fearless?" Remy asked as he idly shuffled the cards in his hands.
Scott was about to reply that he chose Gambit when Jean spoke up.
"I'm the second in command. I should go,"
Scott hid a wince. He also didn't want Jean to be in there. But he agreed in defeat, rather than engage in a long and painful debate as to whether or not Jean should go.
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"So they destroyed everything?" Rogue frowned as she pored over the maps Destiny drew and compared it with the topographical maps Magneto had lying around in their boarding house.
Scott nodded. "Everything. All the vehicles, all the equipments, even Cerebro was not spared."
"Don't sound so surprised, Rogue," Lance told her. "After all, they did the same thing to our place."
"So we're stuck here with no modes of transportation," Jean rubbed her aching head.
The location Destiny drew in her maps was a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was supposedly uninhabited, therefore, no commercial flights were available to go there at all. The only way to go there was through a helicopter or a boat. The former was preferable because the latter would take days—days they feel they didn't have.
"We still have the Mags-mobile," Rogue answered distractedly, meaning the metal spheres that Magneto used to transport his companions using his magnetic energy. "We could take a commercial plane to here," she motioned on a small country on the map that was nearest the island. "And take the orbs the rest of the way."
Kurt frowned. "But Rogue,"
"Who would power those orbs?" Scott asked, interrupting Kurt's protest.
"I would," Rogue replied as she thought it over. "But I think I could only take four orbs with me, judging from the distance."
Kitty looked over Rogue's shoulders and tapped on her laptop. "Sorry guys, no commercial flights towards that island either. But there is one right there," she motioned towards the map after comparing it to the picture in the monitor of her laptop.
"That's too far away for me to take four people on one go," Rogue frowned. "Either I take less people or we do it in two days,"
"The rest could commandeer a boat and arrive there two or three days after we do," Lance nodded.
"I'm not sure I agree with the sphere idea," Scott began.
"Fine then," Lance snapped. "The Brotherhood would hitch a ride with Rogue, and we'll see you when it's over,"
Scott didn't like that either. The Brotherhood might do something to the Professor, Storm, and Wolverine if they succeed in the mission without the X-Men being there.
"We have to work together, remember?" Kitty placated Lance.
"If the X-Men went with your idea, then we'll be putting ourselves at your mercy," Scott grounded out, not liking the thought that Rogue could drop them at anytime she please if he agreed that his team would ride in the metal orbs.
"Sugar, I ain't no murderer," Rogue assured him. "I promise that I won't drop any of you, not if I can help it,"
Scott reddened. "I wasn't implying—"
Rogue gave him a weak grin. "It's alright."
Jean seethed at the look that passed between Rogue and Scott. "Might I suggest a compromise, then?"
"What is it?" Kurt asked.
"Rogue can hold four orbs," Jean began. "What if three of those four are X-Men. That way, she have more incentive of keeping the orbs afloat, because without the three, they won't have a chance of defeating whoever it is that's holding our leaders hostages."
Lance frowned.
"Alright," Rogue immediately answered.
"Rogue," Lance began.
"Don't worry, Lance," Rogue grinned at him. "They're the good guys. They wouldn't dream of betraying us. It'll go against everything they believe in,"
Lance snorted as Kurt gave a goofy grin.
"So, who's going to be in the orbs?" Lance asked.
Scott thought about it. "Me and Jean," he said immediately. He knew that if Rogue does betray them and decide to drop the orbs, he knew Jean could take over by using her telekinesis. And he was going because he wouldn't let Jean alone with the Brotherhood.
"So that means Lance would lead the other group," Kurt mused.
"What?" Lance glared at Scott. They had decided to share the leadership between Lance and Scott. And since there were two groups, one would lead the first group and the other the second group.
"Who's your third member?" Rogue interjected before Lance could say a word.
"Me!" Kitty volunteered.
"No." Scott said. "You're with Lance," as much as he hated to say it, Scott knew that Kitty would keep Lance in line.
Lance's frown faded a bit.
Kitty shrugged.
Scott thought about it. That left Spyke and Gambit.
"Remy'll come," Jean offered.
"What?" Scott frowned.
"Good choice. That means Pietro's with me." Rogue grinned. She actually wanted to take Pietro with her, if only to take him away from Wanda's company. She'll surely kill him if she gets stuck with him for more than a day.
"Why Quicksilver?" Kurt asked with a frown. He wanted to go with his sister, if only to protect her.
"Spyke's in my team," Lance said. "Him and Quicksilver can't stand each other."
Realization dawned on Scott. He knew that Jean would rather have the gentle, sweet-natured Kurt Wagner with Team 2 than the volatile and hostile Pietro.
"Alright. So the combined teams of the X-Men and the Brotherhood would take a flight to this island," Scott began as she motioned to Kitty's laptop, tracing their would-be path with a laser pointer. "Then, we'll split into two groups. Team Blue—"
"Blue?" Kurt asked with a frown.
"It's just a working name," Scott said defensively as he gestured weakly to the blinking blue lights on the monitor.
"Ja. You need to work on your name," he grinned.
"Team Blue," Scott glared at the Fuzzy One. "Would take off from here in Magneto's orbs,"
"Then, Team Gold," Lance immediately interrupted.
"But the lights are pink," Kitty pointed out.
"I would not lead a team named Pink," he told her seriously.
"Like, what's wrong with pink?" Kitty demanded hotly.
"What's not wrong with pink?" Rogue muttered.
"Hey!" Kitty protested.
"Can we go back to the plan now?" Scott asked in exasperation.
"Alright," Lance nodded, glad to be off the topic of conversation.
"Team Gold," Scott began which earned a nod from Lance. "Would ride a boat from the island to our target."
"And then what?" Jean asked.
Scott shrugged. Destiny's journals had gotten hazy and confusing after that. "We would just have to improvise."
"Hey," Rogue called out. "How are we going to afford airplane tickets for the trip? And where on earth would we get a boat?"
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"Tell me why are we doing these again?" Evan asked as he watched in morbid fascination as Kitty worked the computer screen before her.
Kitty shrugged. "Like, the professor will just pay them back when he returns," she shrugged. After Remy had returned to tell them earlier that the professor's bank account had been wiped clean, Scott made the difficult decision of letting Kitty hack into the Airline Computer system to get them their tickets.
"No offense, but this sounds like something the Brotherhood would do, not the X-Men," Evan frowned as he straddled the chair beside Kitty. "But it's cool, though," he smirked.
Kitty paused to glare at him. "Scott gave me this huge lecture about emergencies and doing the right thing earlier," she rolled her eyes. "Believe me when I say that right now, Fearless is beating himself over the head for letting me do this. He feels like he's corrupting me or something, but then, he has no other choice."
"And where's Gambit?"
"Out," Kitty replied as she turned back to the computer screen. "Scott's pretending that Remy's trying to legally acquire a large boat or something without so much as a penny on him."
"Ouch,"
"And Remy enjoyed it sooo much when Scott asked him to get a boat."
"Why are we doing all the dirty-work?"
"Like, because Rogue's going to take care of the transportation of Team Blue. Plus I think Jean wanted to make sure that we take no more than we actually need."
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"Remember, Maximoff, at the first sign that the X-men are going to betray us, I want you to take Rogue out of there, understood?"
Quicksilver smirked and nodded. "Gotcha, boss."
"Will you relax?" Rogue rolled her eyes at the very tense Lance Alvers.
Lance took a deep breath. This was his first full mission as team leader without Mystique in the background. He wanted to prove himself. He wanted to save their leaders. He wanted to prove once and for all that the Brotherhood is better than the X-Men. But above all else, he wanted his team to be safe. An orphan whom Mystique had taken in almost a year ago, he had found his home with the Brotherhood. And he would fight to the death to make sure that no one would take his new (although dysfunctional) family away from him.
Kurt, who was inside the Jeep, honked. "Get in, it's almost time!" He called out.
Lance looked back to Todd and Fred, who were being left behind. Being the newest recruits, they had the least amount of training. Lance was afraid that those two would be more of a liability in their mission. So he ordered them to stay behind and keep an eye on their house. "Make sure no one gets inside the house, understood?"
"Alright, you," Todd hopped up and down. "Just bring us back some souvenirs,"
"And exotic food," Fred patted his stomach.
Lance grinned. "See ya later."
"Later, you slowpokes!" Peitro cried out in delight as he took off to a running start towards their rendezvous point with the X-Men.
"Herr Alvers!" Kurt laughed. "I think Quicksilver had just challenged you to a race!"
Wanda snorted and muttered something about show-offs.
"Later, guys!" Rogue waved as she climbed in the Jeep beside Wanda.
Todd and Fred waved as the Jeep pulled out of their house. Both had wanted to come. The two of them were new to the Brotherhood, but they both felt as if finally they have found their home. And it saddened them that just as they were beginning to find their niche, everything good were being threatened to be taken away from them.
They hoped that the Brotherhood would succeed. With all their hearts. Because if not, it would only prove what they have suspected from the start. That they were never meant to belong, to fit in. They were never meant to be happy.
And if the Brotherhood fails, their young hearts would break and shatter for the thousandth time.
Both knew that they wouldn't survive that.
But all they do for now was to hope and pray.
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~tbc