Thanks to Furygrrl for the review of the last chapters, glad you had fun ;) And now that 'Drowning' is nearly done, I can focus all my attention on this fic instead!
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters herein.
Jean knocked on the door. "Rogue, you in here?"
"Yeah, come on in."
Letting herself into Rogue's bedroom, Jean sat on the edge of the girl's bed and waited for her to look up from the magazine spread out on the dressing table.
"How's Lance liking sleeping on the couch?" asked Rogue, flipping the page.
"Uh, fine."
Rogue glanced over her shoulder. "He is sleeping on the couch, right?"
"Uh…"
"Jean Grey!" Rogue began to snigger. "I never knew you had it in you! And with Lance Alvers – does Scott know?"
"It's none of his business!"
"But it'll drive him crazy and that'll drive Emma crazy – oh please let me tell them! I'd love to see Emma lose that smug look."
"No!" said Jean sharply. "And don't tell Kitty either."
"I guess that would be too weird." Rogue fought her curiosity for a few seconds then gave up. "So, is he any good?"
"Rogue! I can't tell you that!" Jean tried to look stern. "But, uh, oh yes!"
Both girls laughed. "I can't believe you did that," said Rogue. "It's not like you to be into casual sex."
Jean stopped laughing. "Well, I had to try it sometime."
"It is just casual sex, right?"
"Of course!"
"Oh shit." Rogue shook her head. "You fell for him, didn't you? What about when he leaves?"
"I know, I know. I didn't exactly plan for this to happen. I just got…carried away."
"Just got 'carried away' huh? How many times did you get 'carried away' exactly?"
"Four."
"Woo-hoo! Go girl!"
Jean threw the pillow at her. "It's not funny!"
"Sorry. So what are you gonna do?"
"What can I do? I'll have to just enjoy it while it lasts and hope I don't get killed in the meantime. Then when whoever's behind the attacks is caught, the Brotherhood are history and I can get back to my normal life."
"Yeah. Your normal, boring, celibate life. That's just great. Why not keep in touch or something, meet up when he's between missions?"
"Long distance relationships never work. Besides, for all I know, he might do this on every mission he goes on."
"Nah, ah know Lance. He wasn't like that."
"I guess. He was always careful to keep his distance before…uh, forget I said that."
"You seduced him!" Rogue laughed delightedly. "You never fail to surprise me."
"Shut up!" Jean blushed. "Besides, with him off on glamorous missions with SHIELD and me being in Bayville, the centre of anti-mutant hysteria it'd never work. I should just keep things simple and not get emotionally involved."
"Isn't it too late for that?"
"Maybe. But I don't wanna pressure him or anything. I mean, we only got together last night. I should have realised I was getting too attached to him when I jumped on him in the nightclub."
"He could have backed off."
"Not the way I was coming on to him." Jean sighed and lay back on the bed. "Why does this have to happen to me? I finally meet a guy I like and he's Kitty's ex, a member of the Brotherhood and only in town to find out who's attacking mutants. The Brotherhood really want to get away from here. I heard them talking about it this morning."
"Ah don't blame them." Rogue went and sat beside Jean. "Look, you'll work something out. I bet Lance likes you just as much as you like him. No amount of SHIELD business is gonna keep him away from you for long if he wants to get back to you."
"And what if he doesn't want to get back to me?"
Rogue shrugged, no answer occurring.
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The reporter stood in front of a crowd of protesters outside what was recognisably the Xavier Institute. "The anti-mutant feeling in Bayville has been growing ever since it was discovered that the controversial Pow-R-8 drink was also toxic to humans. There have been many attacks places known to be sympathetic to mutants, including a church and a café. Seven people have been killed so far. The Xavier Institute was revealed to be a haven to mutants during the initial exposure of mutants to the public, when members of the Institute as well as the now-abandoned Brotherhood Boarding House were witnessed battling a giant Sentinel robot."
"Any ideas how we get back in the mansion?" asked Pietro. "And Pyro, we're not going for the fire diversion no matter how much you beg."
"We could radio ahead and ask for some cloud cover," said Wanda. "But why bother? There's 'copters going in and out of here all the time."
"The media presence and protesters aren't gonna get bored and go home if they see helijets. They'll assume we're up to something." Lance glared at the computer screen, recognising footage from the long-ago Sentinel incident. Seeing himself as a teenager was not making him feel any better. Everyone on the screen, X-Men and Brotherhood alike, looked scared green.
"Good point." Pyro reached over to the comm.-link and flipped the switch. "SHIELD to the X-Men. Come in! Over."
"Oh God…" Wanda shook her head and looked skywards.
"What do you want?"
"Logan! Me old buddy!" Pyro waved as the grim face of Wolverine appeared on the computer.
Logan sighed. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"We'll be there in three," said Lance quickly. "We could do with something to disguise our landing from the reporters."
Looking behind him, Logan spoke to some one off screen. "'Ro! Think you can make it rain?"
The answer was unintelligible, but it made Logan grin in a way that disturbed them all. "You're covered."
"We're going out for a beer tonight," said Pyro conversationally. "Wanna come?"
"Pyro!" Wanda nudged him sharply. "That's official SHIELD business, you can't involve civilians!"
"Hey kid," growled Logan. "I was on missions before you were even born. Hell, before your father was born. If you're going to find these guys, I'm going with."
"But…"
"That wasn't a suggestion."
The first drops of rain hit the helijet and a flash of lightning lit the sky. Lance glared at the screen. "Couldn't she just have done fog?"
"This way, they might all go home for the night." Logan went to turn off the link.
Pyro leaned closer to the screen. "I'm going to drink you under the table mate!"
"Yeah. That'll happen." Logan ended the conversation.
"No one's drinking anyone under the table." Lance steered the helijet onto the grounds of the mansion. "We're trying to find out if we can infiltrate the Friends of Humanity or at least find out where they hang out. We are not partying!"
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"I want you to stay here," said Lance to Jean as they stood in the kitchen of the Xavier Institute. "I'll take you home when we get back."
Jean wanted to ask how long he'd be, tell him to be careful, but she didn't want to come across as a nag. Instead she just nodded.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Lance put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, a surprisingly protective gesture. "I'll text you if we find anything that'll make us late."
"OK." Jean rested her head against his chest for a moment, and then leant up hurriedly as Rogue and Remy walked in.
"Not disturbing anything are we?" Rogue gave the couple a knowing look.
"No," replied Lance, not taking his arm from around her.
"Hear you're going for a drink," said Remy. "Mind if Gambit joins you?"
"This isn't a social occasion!" Lance looked exasperated.
Pyro wandered into the kitchen. "Gambit! You coming with us tonight?"
"No," said Lance.
"Oui," countered Remy.
"Come on Jean," said Rogue. "They'll be arguing all night about this. Let's go see what the others are doing."
"See you later!" Jean let Rogue drag her out of the room.
"I mean it Pyro," said Lance. "This is supposed to be a mission, not a reunion!"
"You say that this Graydon Creed is Rogue's brother and that he's with de Friends of Humanity?" Gambit looked congenial, but his red-on-black eyes were cold. "Dat means he got something personal against her. Remy gonna look out for her, no matter what you want."
"Just accept it bub." Logan stalked in, overhearing the whole speech. "The Cajun'll only go off on his own otherwise, mess us your whole plan."
"This is just great." Lance scowled at the wall, not happy with the situation.
Pyro clapped him on the back. "At least we know they can look after themselves."
"Saves us having to do it." Lance and Remy exchanged glares, neither of them having forgotten when Gambit had turned up at the Brotherhood house while working for Magneto.
"Who ya leaving here?" asked Logan.
"Pietro and Fred." Lance checked his watch and sighed. "Where the hell are the others?"
"Right here." Wanda strolled in, the ever-adoring Toad behind her. "You just need to hope that none of us get recognised."
"Let's get this over with." Lance decided he'd never dreaded a trip to a bar more than he was this one.
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The fourth bar they went into still had an ancient 'Kelly for President' poster over the optics and as Logan bought the drinks, the bartender grumbled to him about the trouble being caused by the mutant protesters. "This used to be a decent town, before they opened that school for freaks," he reminisced.
Refraining from disembowelling the guy, Logan replied with a surly grunt before weaving through the crowd to where the others were sat. He slammed the tray on the table, some of the drinks slopping over the glasses.
"Be careful!" Pyro grabbed his drink.
"Stop complaining." Logan took a seat and glanced around the bar. There were several people around that he recognised from the protest earlier that day and combined with the barman's obvious dislike of mutants, it seemed like the kind of place the Friends of Humanity would choose to meet. But he doubted it would be as easy as just finding a likely place.
"We need to throw a party at the mansion," said Pyro bluntly.
"No way," replied Logan.
"Anyway, we decided it was too dangerous," Wanda reminded him.
Logan began to look interested. "Dangerous how?"
"We thought that because the Institute is known to house mutants, if there was a time when it was unprotected and people with no security clearance had access to it, then the Friends of Humanity might break in and try something." Wanda took a swig of her drink. "But with the kids around, it's too risky."
"Unless the kids were off somewhere," mused Remy.
"Like a field trip," said Logan.
"And with the kids away, de adults can play!" Remy smirked. "And if some one should decide to crash de party, dat not be our fault."
"You're seriously considering this?" Lance couldn't believe the X-Men were actually thinking of going along with a plan thought up by Pyro of all people.
Logan leant back and lit a cigar. "If you don't think you can handle it…"
"We can handle it easily," snapped Lance. "Hell, we can handle it with the kids there if we need to. I just think that if we can track them down and get them at their meetings rather than let them into the mansion it'd be safer. We're supposed to be protecting you, remember?"
"Right kid," said Logan with a laugh. "Just keep telling yourself that."
"If we can pull this off, we could be out of Bayville and we'd have more on them than just the possibility of them being behind the attacks," said Wanda. "Unless you'd rather hang around here for another month?"
Lance shot Wanda an evil look. The comment didn't seem to have aroused Logan's suspicions, but any others might and he didn't want to deal with an angry Logan.
Toad glanced at the door as it swung open and immediately ducked his head. "Oh shit!"
Lance followed his gaze and groaned. "Try to keep a low profile guys."
Duncan Matthews breezed into the bar, followed by a group of men they recognised as former cronies of his and an older man who had to be his father. They were laughing between themselves, apparently congratulating Duncan on his release from jail.
"Think he'll recognise us?" asked Toad nervously.
"He might," muttered Lance. "Me and you most likely, probably not Wanda. Did he ever meet you Logan?"
"Night he got arrested."
"And on TV," added Gambit. "But de Acolytes weren't on the TV. We'll go to de bar from now on."
"Shhhh!" said Logan. He scowled, trying to listen in on the conversation between Duncan and his friends. "It's no good. It's too crowded to make out much. But I'm sure I heard 'em mention the church that got torched."
Wanda looked over and took note of where they sat. "They're between us and the ladies room. I feel the sudden need to powder my nose."
"Try not to let them see you," said Lance.
Getting up, Wanda strolled casually over to the bathroom, dropping her purse beside the table Duncan was sat at. None of them seemed to notice her as she bend down to rescue it, slipping a bug under the table as she picked it up.
"Smooth," said Gambit admiringly.
A few minutes later Wanda reappeared at the table and took her seat, retrieving the listening device for the bug and setting it on the table. A quick glance around told her that there was little chance of being overheard and she turned it on.
"Does dat tiny t'ing record too?" asked Gambit, giving the device a dubious look.
"Yeah." Wanda wondered if having Gambit accompany them had been a good idea. Anyone who wore shades at night was suspicious and it wasn't like he could show off his real eye colour.
"…Goddamn genius," Duncan was saying. "Never thought he'd be able to get me off."
"The muties are getting too full of themselves," said some one else. "We've been doing what we can, but we have to be careful. They're powerful."
"I'd love to get back at those X-Men," muttered Duncan angrily. "It's their fault we got busted. That stupid bitch Jean Grey attacked me! And that Summers asshole too. That Spyke freak trashed my car and does anyone do anything about that?"
"That's what the Friends of Humanity are all about, evening the odds."
"Bingo," said Wanda quietly.
"I'm interested," said Duncan.
"They're planning something big."
Lance glanced over and realised the speaker was the older man he took to be the senior Matthews.
"Creed's gonna be in touch in the next few days, but he's very interested in meeting you," Mr Matthews continued, waving his drink around in his hand. "He's a touch paranoid about security, but then who wouldn't be with all the mutants running around this town? Insists on a different place each time and he only tells us about an hour before."
"So much for tracing their meetings," said Toad.
"Muties are running scared though, with the normal humans standing up for themselves," said Duncan. "Killing's too good for 'em. Did the Friends of Humanity drive the car through the café?"
"Yeah, that was pure genius."
"Got 'em!" Lance grinned; glad they finally had something good to tell Jean.
Another voice spoke. "Creed saw your mutie ex walk in about two minutes before he sent the car through the window."
"Shame she managed to survive," said Duncan brusquely.
Lance clenched his fists, angered by this casual condemnation of his girlfriend…no, the woman he was sleeping with. If he started thinking of her as his girlfriend, he was in trouble.
"We've got the evidence," said Wanda as the conversation on the other table turned to more mundane matters. "But these guys weren't involved. If we pick them up now, all we do is lose the advantage. And we haven't found out their next meeting place or even when it's going to be. I think we need to go to plan B."
"Agreed," said Lance, although he wasn't overjoyed about the party plan. Too many things could go wrong. "I say we go outside and wait for them to leave, follow them. See if we can ID a vehicle and maybe put a trace on it. But the longer we stay in here, the more risk of them noticing us."
"They're between us and the door," said Pyro. "How do we get past without them seeing us?"
"Is there a back door?" Wanda glanced behind her and saw a fire exit. "That's probably wired to an alarm."
"Diversion?" Toad sized up the distance between them and the exit. Duncan and his friends were close enough to the main doors to make it their easiest method of leaving.
"I'm on it." Wanda checked that no one was looking her way and concentrated on the overhead sprinkler system, which suddenly started spraying water all over the bar. Cries of alarm went up as people began jumping to their feet, some of them using coats and bags to protect themselves from the deluge.
When Duncan and his friends made for the door, the mutants made their move and went out of the fire door. Just as Wanda had predicted the alarm went off, but there were people behind them with the same idea and blocking them from view.
"There they go!" Lance spotted the group making toward a two-seat convertible, an older make SUV parked behind it. The people exiting the bar and the comparative shadows of the alleyway the fire escape led into made it less likely that they would be noticed. It also made it harder for them to make their next move.
"Why are they just hanging around yo?" Toad glared at the bars patrons hanging around in twos and threes, talking among themselves. "Can't they just find somewhere else to get drunk?"
Lance glared over at the group that Duncan was a part of, splitting up and getting into the vehicles. Duncan and his father got into the convertible, the others climbing into the SUV. "Wanda, can you give them some engine trouble?"
"Both cars at once might look a bit suspicious." Wanda smirked, gesturing at the SUV as the engine gunned – and the gear stick slipped, sending the car into the back of the convertible with a sound of breaking glass. Toad bounded up the side of the building, vanishing into the shadows. The group watched as the passengers in the two cars got out and surveyed the damage, mainly broken lights and small dents. Even knowing that Toad was lurking, they barely saw the movement of his tongue flashing down at the cars, a miniscule blob of slime attaching the tracking devices to the cars.
"If they meet up, we can find out when and where, maybe we won't have to risk opening the mansion up." Lance devoutly hoped they wouldn't. On the occasions they had been up against the enemy with the public around, the people watching were too afraid to do more than dive to the floor. Some froze where they stood, others tried to run, but to date none had tried to be a hero. With the X-Men around, he doubted that there would be any terrified spectators, but there would certainly be a lot of people fighting back. It would make it much more difficult to determine who was an enemy and who they were supposed to be protecting.
"If they take their cars," said Pyro.
The excitement over the fender-bender seemed to be over and the men got back into their respective vehicles. Toad landed beside Wanda and did a dance. "Did you see that? Am I good or what?"
"They're going," said Wanda as the cars drove away. "We gonna see where they're going?"
"I'm designated driver!" Pyro left the alley ahead of the others; walking quickly in the direction they'd left the car.
"We need to get to the car before he gets in the drivers seat," said Wanda. "He has no concept of 'low profile' once he gets behind the wheel."
Lance took out his phone and called Pietro as they walked down the street. "We've got tracers on a couple of cars. Can you get them on the computer?"
"Uh…yeah, they're on screen now. Heading north on thirty-fourth."
"Can you tell if they're heading to the Matthews place?"
"Let me see if I can get it up on screen – wait, they turned again, going west."
"West?" Lance did a quick calculation. "Oh shit, they're doubling back!"
"There's nowhere to duck into," said Toad nervously. "Think they'll notice us?"
"They probably left something at the bar," said Wanda. "Talk about bad luck. We might be able to get back to the car before they pass us…"
"We're not all Pietro," said Pyro, pulling a lighter out of his pocket. "If they decide to do something, we'll be ready."
"We're trying to keep a low profile," said Lance before turning his attention back to the phone. "Where are they now?"
"Turning back toward the bar. Tell me you're at the other end of the street."
"No, I've got visual on them." Lance saw the convertible and the SUV heading their way and hunched down, trying to make himself look more inconspicuous, putting the phone back into his pocket but not cutting off the call so that Pietro and Fred could monitor the situation. Gambit and Pyro strolled ahead, trying to block the view of the mutants that the occupants might recognise. Toad tried to blend into the shadows, Wanda trying to disguise her appearance by ducking her head and pulling her trench coat around her and Logan hanging at the back, part of him hoping that they would try something. The attacks around Bayville had got him riled and a fight was just what he needed.
Just as it seemed that the cars would continue on to the bar, there was a screech of brakes and the second crash of the night, this time louder than the one Wanda had caused. The mutants turned as Duncan leapt over the door of the car, glaring at them.
His father got out of the drivers side. "I'm telling you, I saw him out with the skunk-headed freak!"
"And you thought they wouldn't recognise you," said Pyro, grinning widely.
"Shut up," said Gambit, reaching into his pocket and taking out a deck of cards, shuffling them one-handed.
"That's Tolansky!" Duncan pointed at Toad as the occupants of the SUV began climbing out, sensing a situation. "Explains what happened to my wallet at least. And hey, if it isn't Lance Alvers. I thought you guys saw sense and left town."
Lance eyed the gang, several of them beginning to advance of them. "You don't wanna do this."
"You're wrong," said Duncan with a smirk. "I've been waiting years for this."
They looked too happy, thought Lance. There were equal umbers of humans and mutants and that certainly wasn't Duncan's style, the former quarterback preferred more favourable odds. There were no CCTV cameras around and therefore no footage for any 'mutant menace' propaganda they might have had in mind. All his instincts were screaming that something was wrong…
One of the men from the SUV threw a punch at Logan and the fight was on.