Notes: It's not as if a simple web search wouldn't turn up tons of info on anyone you don't know here, and I've invited questions (remember to include e-mail addresses!), so there's no reason you shouldn't understand anything here.  In consideration of those who haven't read the comics, I will try to be more in-depth regarding the history of certain characters, even if it means getting a little long-winded at times.

Chapter 11: Miko the Mighty

Illyana watched in amazed silence as Mikhail entered the fifth hour of his workout regimen.  Just then, it was push-ups, and she had lost count around two hundred or so.  Frankly, she was starting to get a little concerned about him.  Despite the fact that he didn't look at all exhausted, she was tired just from watching him.  If he didn't stop soon, he might pass out or just…explode or something.

"Miko?" she asked softly.  "Aren't you tired yet?"

Mikhail raised his head and smiled, even as he continued the push-ups.  "No.  I do this every day, snowflake.  Staying in shape is very important to me…and my job."

Illyana perked up at once.  She still had no idea what it was that her brother did, though she was beginning to suspect he was a very important person.  Everyone they'd met so far did what he told them, and people backed up when he wasn't happy.  Mikhail wouldn't just tell her, either; he seemed to want her to guess.

"So your job makes you have to be really, really strong?" she asked.

"Something like that, yes," he replied.  "But some of the reason I do this is…personal."

Illyana frowned thoughtfully.  "You're not a fireman, are you?"

He laughed heartily.  "No, little one, I am not.  But I have put out my share of fires in this line of work."

There was a sudden, shrill beeping from where Mikhail had discarded his jacket on the bed.

"Answer that for me, sister?" he asked.

Illyana nodded, glad to be of help, and scrambled over to the jacket.  She soon fished out Mikhail's cell phone.  "Hello?"  She listened for a moment, blinked a few times, and looked at her brother.  "It's some lady.  She says her name's Deathbird?"

"Ah.  I'll take it here, then," Mikhail said with something of a smile.  He sat back against the bed and wiped his face with a towel. 

Still puzzled, Illyana walked over to him and held the phone up to his face.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Lady?" he asked.

"There's…a problem in Sector 6, Mikhail.  Your presence is required."

Mikhail frowned slightly.  "I'm on my way down."

"Good.  I'm very interested in meeting your new secretary as well."

Before Mikhail could open his mouth, there was a very obvious click.

Illyana looked up at her brother.  "You're in trouble…"

He sighed.  "It seems I am.  I think she's jealous of you."

"Me?  What did I do?"

"Nothing, of course.  It's what I did.  She must think I'm cheating on her."

"She's your girlfriend?!"

"And what's wrong with that?"

"She didn't SOUND nice," Illyana said skeptically.

"She has a stressful job.  Trust me, she's much nicer in private.  Now, we shouldn't keep her waiting."

"So Sector 6 is really important?" Illyana asked, handing him his jacket.

"Extremely.  It's the most important one, in fact.  It's where all the power in the city comes from."

"What city is this, anyway?" Illyana asked suddenly.

Mikhail paused.  "Hmm.  Most locals know it as 'The Hill' these days.  I suppose that's its name."

She gave him a funny look.  "How can you live in a city and not know what it's called?"

Mikhail smiled.  "How, indeed."

* * * * *

Jubilee poked her head into the room, only to find Nate & Wanda hovering five feet off the ground.  "Any luck?"

"Not really," Nate replied, frowning.  "Every time we get a trace, it fades away again.  Whoever took Yana is a real pro at hiding things.  Even with Wanda boosting my powers, I can't get a lock."

"I still say someone should check Magneto," Wanda said firmly.  "Even if he didn't take her, I bet he knows someone who would."

"Wouldn't be the first time he snatched a girl," Jubilee agreed.  "But from inside his cell?  That'd be too good, even for him."

"Never put anything past that man, Jubilee.  You'll be proved wrong every time."

Jubilee shrugged as she stepped into the room, clutching Illyana's bear in her arms.  "I guess we can't rule anyone out just yet…"

"I've got it!" Nate cried suddenly.  "The trace is back!"

"Huh?  Really?!"

"YES!  It's right…!"  Nate glanced around rapidly, before his gaze finally fell on Jubilee.  "THE BEAR!!!"

"…um…you sure you didn't bump your head on the ceiling, Nate?" Jubilee asked.

Nate flew at her and grabbed the bear.  "NO!  It's Miko!  He's the trace I kept getting!"

"Dude.  That so does NOT help us find her.  He's HERE with us!"

An odd look passed over his face.  "And, in a way, so is Illyana."

Jubilee stared at him.  "…you DID hit your head, didn't you?!"

"NO!  Look, have you ever heard of dimensional portals?"

"Now you're going sci-fi on me.  I STILL say you bumped-"

"You mean Illyana's in another dimension?" Wanda asked.

Nate nodded.  "It's why we can't find her on our plane, because she's not there.  Someone took her to another dimension, and they used Miko to do it.  That's why all my searches lead back to him."

Jubilee sighed and shook her head.  "Nate, Miko is a STUFFED BEAR."

"He's also the key to a dimensional doorway."

"Prove it.  Take us to where Yana is right now."

Nate stared dumbly at Miko for a long moment, before finally pressing the bear's nose to Jubilee's experimentally.

"…that was my second guess on how to activate him, actually," Wanda admitted.

"I see the head-bumping wasn't limited to the male population," Jubilee snapped.

* * * * *

The long car ride to Sector 6 gave Illyana a lot of time to think.

In all honesty, she could not recall having met her oldest brother before.  By the time she was old enough to remember her home back in Russia, he had already been gone.  She knew him only from photo albums and what Piotr and their parents had told her.  They had always told her he was away on a very important trip.  At some point, she had unfortunately figured out that the trip had ended in his death.  Their family had always been a close-knit group, and death was usually the only thing that kept them apart.

For some reason, though, Mikhail clearly wasn't dead in this place.  She kept glancing at him every few seconds to make sure she wasn't dreaming up that much.  Perhaps the people at the space program had simply lost track of Mikhail and assumed him dead.  She imagined it was very difficult to go looking for someone in space.  But if he had been here the whole time, why didn't he tell anyone?  Why would he let them think he was dead?

Why wouldn't he have come home?

The more she thought about that, the more she wondered if she would ever get home.  Piotr would be worried.  Not to mention Nate, Jubilee, Ms. Munroe, Marrow, and Professor X.  They'd all be looking for her, but they'd never know where to start.  She was pretty sure telling them to look for "The Hill" would be pointless, and she had no idea where it might be located.  At the same time, she didn't want to ask Mikhail about that, either.  Somehow, she got the feeling that he wouldn't want her to leave.

But then, it wasn't just him.  Part of Illyana didn't want to leave him behind, either.  She would probably never get another chance to get to know her brother, and she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before she had to go.

Had she known Mikhail's plans for her at that moment, leaving definitely would've been the least of her concerns.

When the car finally came to a stop, Illyana hopped out at once, glad to be free of her boring prison.

They had stopped in front of a white building that seemed to stretch out forever in a straight line.

Before Mikhail could stop her, Illyana walked up to the front door.

Instantly, a man in a brown uniform stepped out.  Spotting Mikhail, he began to say something…and then his gaze landed on Illyana.

She could almost hear his heart stopping, just before he sank to his knees and lowered his head to the ground.  "My queen," he began to chant over and over again in a reverent voice.

Mikhail scowled as he caught up with her.  "Get up, soldier.  No one ordered you to bow."

"I am not worthy to look upon my queen," he murmured.

With a snarl, Mikhail yanked the soldier up.  "I said get up!" he snapped, cocking his other arm.

"Miko, no!" Illyana cried, grabbing his leg.  "Please don't hit him!  He was…just being polite!"

Mikhail dropped his fist and released the soldier somewhat reluctantly.  "You just remember who gives the orders around here, soldier," he growled as they passed by.

Once inside, Illyana turned to look up at him.  "You were really going to hurt him!  Why, Miko?"

"There are things you do not understand about this place, snowflake," Mikhail said gently.  "The power structure…is very delicate.  One must be careful how they address their superiors."

"…so you're the big boss?" Illyana asked after a moment.

"That's…one way of looking at it, yes.  We can discuss it later.  Right now, we need to move.  Deathbird can be quite unpleasant when she's made to wait."

"Is she bigger than you?"

Mikhail chuckled.  "No.  But she is dangerous in her own ways."

* * * * *

Remy was far more crafty than most people gave him credit for. 

For instance, to the average observer, at the moment, he was merely loafing around…albeit on a very high tree branch.

That could not have been further from the truth.

Remy was actually acting as guardian and spy to Marrow and Marie, respectively.  Neither of them even knew about it, or that he was even watching them at all.  That was precisely the way that Remy liked it.  People showed their true colors when they didn't know they were being watched.

It was not that he didn't trust them, though.  Remy would've given his life twice for Marrow in a heartbeat. As for Marie…she had an honest face.  Or at least a fairly pretty one, and that was good enough for now.

No, Remy (he would've preferred Gambit when he was working) was more interested in the small, sandy-haired boy across the yard that was trying to pretend he wasn't watching the girls.  He had been doing that a lot lately, so of course Remy had spotted him right away.  Remy decided right away that he didn't like something about the kid.  He'd even gone through the trouble of asking others, but they all pretty much said the same thing.

"Him?  Oh, that's just Ernie," Jubilee had said.  "A little weird, but harmless."

"Don't really know him that well," Nate had said.  "He seems okay, though."

"He plays with Yana and me sometimes," Marrow had said.  "He doesn't talk much.  I think he's just shy."

No one seemed to know what Ernie's mutant ability was, only that he definitely had one, according to Xavier.  Remy knew better than to doubt the word of anyone that Wanda trusted completely. 

But that did not make Ernie okay in Remy's book.  In fact, it made him even more suspicious.  Especially since he always seemed to be watching Marrow from afar.

At first, Remy had tried to pass it off as a schoolboy crush.  If Ernie really was shy like Marrow thought, it was certainly possible.  But Ernie did not shy away when Marrow invited him to play, and he did not blush when their fingers accidentally touched.  He behaved, in Remy's opinion, like a living rock.  Nothing ever phased him…at all.  There were even times when Ernie didn't blink, either because he'd forgotten to, or he simply didn't need to.  Neither was very reassuring, because Remy had seen that trait in certain people before.

They were either crazy or killers or both, and all of them were extremely dangerous in the end.

That was why Remy had made it his mission to become Marrow's shadow.  He would rather it be him than Ernie, after all.

When Marrow finally noticed Ernie lurking by the bushes, she called his name and waved him over.

Ernie began to approach…and stopped short when Remy suddenly appeared, landing behind Marrow without a sound.  He stared at the older boy for a long moment, and then simply walked away.

Remy watched him like a hawk, his crimson eyes flashing like burning coals.  It was Marie's voice that snapped him out of it.

"Oh, Remy!  Don't scare me like that!  Where'd you come from, anyhow?"

He blinked and aimed a wink at her.  "Wherever you want me come from, chere."

Marie didn't say anything, but he was pleased to see her blush before looking away.

"Remy, you scared Ernie away!" Marrow scolded.  "I told you he was shy!"

Remy shrugged.  "Sorry, petite," he murmured, folding his legs neatly under him as he sat and dropped an arm around her small shoulders.  "He just have to learn to play wit Remy, too, non?"

"You're too overprotective of me," Marrow replied, but she didn't pull away from him.  "Ernie's just a boy.  He's not gonna do anything."

Remy and Marie both shared a knowing smile, but for completely different reasons.

"Anyway, if he did, I'd give him a fat lip," Marrow said confidently.

Marie just barely stifled a giggle behind her hand.

"Dat's my petite," Remy said proudly, squeezing her shoulders.  "Chase all de boys away by herself."

"I bet you taught her that, huh?" Marie asked.

"Hey, petite gotta know how to defend herself!" Remy declared at once.  He grinned wolfishly at Marie.  "I teach you, too, if you want, chere."

Marie's cheeks colored slightly.  "Thanks, but no."  She smiled.  "Logan's been teaching me that."

Remy's smile faded at once.  "Oh."

* * * * *

"Please excuse the intrusion, My Lady."

Deathbird turned and scowled at the worker.  "What is it?"

He lowered his eyes respectfully.  "I have received word that Lord Mikhail just passed the gates.  You asked to be notified-"

"Yes, yes."  She waved him away and turned back to the monitor.  "Two generators left," she muttered angrily.  "And I bet I know exactly who will have to replace it, too…"

The main doors slid open moments later, and by the way all noise in the lab ended abruptly, Deathbird knew that Mikhail had finally arrived.  She, however, did her best not to acknowledge him until he was at her side.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Lady," he apologized.

She did not face him.  "We lost the third generator early this morning, Mikhail."  She could almost sense him frowning.

"So soon?" he asked, and at that she did turn to face him.  "I had hoped it would last much longer."

"You're not surprised then?"

"No.  I knew it was unstable when I found it," Mikhail said.  "I believed we could salvage it…but it appears I was mistaken."  He shook his head slightly.  "Do we have any backups?"

"Only one that could even hope to keep up with the other two primaries," Deathbird replied with a hint of malice.

He placed a hand on her shoulder.  "It will last, Lady.  At least until I can track down another."

"You're certain that wouldn't be too draining on you?" she asked skeptically.

Mikhail seemed amused.  "Are you offering to go in my place?"

Deathbird frowned at him.  "You know very well what I'm asking, damn you," she said softly.

"Language, Lady," he chided gently, squeezing her shoulder.  "My sister is present."

Her gaze traveled down to the blond girl at Mikhail's feet.  "She looks nothing like you."

"I should hope not.  I don't think I'd make a very attractive girl."  Mikhail placed a hand on Illyana's head.  "Snowflake, I'll need to go away for a while.  Would you mind terribly if I left you in Deathbird's care?"

Illyana studied Deathbird for a few seconds before pulling her brother back a few feet.  "Can she cook?" she asked in a loud whisper.

Mikhail laughed nervously.  "Sister, you know we have attendants for that…"

"But can SHE cook?" Illyana asked again.  "If you're going to marry her someday, she has to know how to cook your favorite meals, right?"

"I can prepare meals just fine," Deathbird snapped from where she stood.  "More importantly, my Shi'ar heritage allows me certain other advantages.  In short, I CAN hear you."

Illyana blushed and hid behind Mikhail's leg.

Mikhail sighed.  "Snowflake, I assure you that Deathbird will care for you as if you were her own child."

"You mean as if I were HER sister, don't you?" Illyana asked.

He did not frown so much as he merely didn't smile.  "No, I most certainly do not."

* * * * *

Lilandra was jolted awake by the sudden rise in temperature.  She had learned very quickly that it was always hot in the cell, but that it sometimes went from bearably warm to unbearably burning for brief periods.  She had not quite gotten use to those, but she had a horrible feeling that she might.

The last thing she could remember was being beaten by Deathbird.  That in itself was nothing new, save that this time, the beating had occurred for no other reason than to knock her out.  Lilandra was not certain if she should be thankful for that, especially considering where she was now.  She almost would've preferred for her sister to just beat her to death.  At least that would've been quick. 

And then she wouldn't have to deal with those eyes.

The two children clearly did not trust her.  She imagined they were familiar Deathbird, and Lilandra knew that she and her sister looked far too much alike as it was.  Even the fact that she was now imprisoned alongside them did not change their view of her.  To them, she might as well have been Deathbird.

But it was the boy she feared most.  With the girl, Lilandra could only see exhaustion and pain. 

She could not read the boy, and that was reason enough to fear him.  When she looked into his cold gaze, however, she saw something much more frightening.  She saw determination, pride, and hope.  All three would most likely get them killed, but she could hardly tell him to change the way he was…though, she imagined he COULD, if he really wanted to.

Even now, he was propped up against the opposite wall, watching her warily with his pale blue eye.  The other was long gone, clawed out when he'd put up a fight against Deathbird.  The scar of his loss was hidden behind the unkempt blond hair that fell over his face…most of the time.

"You'll want to wake her," Lilandra said, motioning to the sleeping girl.  "The pulses will start soon."

He did not bother to check if she was lying, having long since learned the schedule for the pulses.  Instead, he rolled to the right and shook the girl gently.  "Ray," he whispered hoarsely.  "Time to get up."

She muttered something and covered her fiery red hair with her hands.  "Go 'way."

He moved after her, shaking her again.  "C'mon, Ray.  You know it's worse when you're not awake.  Please get up."

She whined a little more, but finally sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'm up."

The boy reached forward and drew her hands away from her face, revealing her dull green eyes.  "You know you need to focus to get through the pulses."

The girl pulled away, her eyes flashing dangerously.  "I can do it by myself," she insisted.

He frowned at her.  "He didn't want any help, either.  You saw what happened to him."

She bit her lip.  "I-I'm stronger than he was."

"Even if you are, we can't risk it.  I won't let you risk it."  He reached for her.  "Take my hands, Ray."

"No.  I said I can do it."

He frowned again.  "I'm not asking anymore, Ray.  Take my hands."

The girl shook her head.  "You can't make me."

"You know I can.  We both do."  His voice did not change at all while he spoke, but Lilandra could tell that the boy who started the statement was not quite the same one who finished it.  That was even before she felt the surge of power flatten her against the wall like she didn't weigh a thing.

The girl began to cry as her hands slowly lifted themselves and reached for his.  "N-no!  Stop it, Frankie!  It hurts!" she wailed, shaking her head desperately.  "It hurts when you do that!"

"I'm sorry, Ray," he whispered, lacing his fingers through hers.  "You know it would only hurt worse if I didn't.  Now look at me."

She shut her eyes tightly, trying to block his power and failing miserably.  "I don't want to!"

"I know you don't.  I don't want you to, either.  But you have to be reminded of what can happen to you."

Her sobs trailed off as her eyes were slowly forced open, but tears continued to roll down her face as she stared at him.

"You know I'm only doing this because I care about you, Ray.  I won't lose you the way we lost him."  The boy leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers.  "Are you ready?"

She whimpered and shook her head slightly, as she always did.

He ignored that and began to boost both their talents to unfathomable levels, as he always did.

Lilandra had watched the event at least three times a day, sometimes more.  Yet, each show was more spectacular than the previous one.  The idea that mere children could possess what these two did…well, it would've been akin to blasphemy on her planet.  But she was no longer blinded by those silly superstitions.  Now, she knew without doubt that they were her only hope of ever regaining her freedom.

The phantom wind rose up without warning, swirling faster and faster around the two children like a localized tornado.  Then the girl began to scream in that bloodcurdling voice of hers.

Lilandra had once thought the boy was actually hurting her, but now she knew better.  While whatever he did to her was clearly uncomfortable, it was ultimately painless, compared to the pulses themselves.

The girl's screams were merely a result of her terror.  For the when the winds of their power rose, they always lifted the boy's hair away from his face, revealing the hideous scars his encounter with Deathbird had left him with, and would leave him with, for the rest of his life.  It was one thing to see those scars from far away.  But to have them right in your face, the way the girl did, urged one to new levels of horror.  And since she could not break away or even close her eyes, she merely screamed until her voice gave out.

It was cruel and unusual, yes, but the boy was right.  It always reminded the girl of what could happen to her, and in the end, it would make her stronger.

Lilandra did her best to block out the screams and prepare herself.  "It's coming!" she shouted over the girl and the roar of the winds.

The boy said nothing, but he grimaced and braced himself.

The shockwave from the first pulse rolled over them in a matter of seconds, but it was the aftershocks that lasted for hours.  The waves were designed to completely expose their minds, and the aftershocks were to slowly drain them of their telepathic power.

Lilandra understood that she herself was just a backup.  These two were the real generators, and they had been since the start, if her hunch was right.  She also knew that she was here because they'd lost one of their own recently.  The girl refused to name him, but in one of the rare moments when the boy wasn't guarding her, Lilandra had gleamed a name that she would never grasp the significance of.

All she knew was that Deathbird had brought her in to replace the child known as Proteus, and if this was what had killed him, she could not be far from the same fate herself.

Endnotes: Confused yet?  There's a reason I haven't gotten in-depth with Deathbird, Lilandra, Frankie, Proteus, and Ray, but I will soon.  All you need to know is that Deathbird is a rotten sister (obviously).

Some things to keep in mind:

1. There are no original characters here, and that includes "Ernie."  I may have altered some people beyond recognition, but they're all based on characters from X-Men comics (and between crossovers and the like, everyone's been in an X-Men comic).  If you really have NO clue where someone came from or how they know the X-Men, just ask.  Don't be shy, I won't bite.

2. Realize that when I say "X-Men comics," I don't just mean comics with X-Men in the title.  I mean virtually every comic that's ever featured an X-Man.  Don't worry, I haven't read them all.  I am (or was) a huge fan of Generation X, that and X-Man are my chief inspirations. 

3. It probably wouldn't hurt if you were overly familiar with Illyana's family…though it might spoil parts of the story for you.  The same could be said for Nate's "family" as well.