This is a translation of part 3 of one of my longest finished German fanfiction series. I am not a native speaker and apologize for any mistakes. While the "Weathered"-series focus on Scott and his lover and on Jean and Logan as a couple, there are lots of other important characters and plot lines coming into play, one of the biggest being the Dark Phoenix saga Hollywood messed up two times in a row.

"Cold war" is set in the early summer of 2000, shortly after the events of the movie 'X-Men'.

Comments are more than welcome. I'm thirsting for them like so many others.

In these two fanfiction series, you will find many Marvel comic- and cartoon elements and characters that I love, the first two X-Men movies build the canon though (with slight alterations with regard to ships). There's also a lot of photoshop messing around and a couple of videos existing for these fanfiction series. If you want to know more about it and do not shy away from spoilers, you can find the link to my graphic lair in my profile.

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR:

After surprisingly mutating at the rare age of 20, Katja Ninaus came to the Xavier Institute to learn how to live with her atmokinetic powers. Quickly getting caught up in the chaos that ensued when the Brotherhood came after Logan and Marie and the following battle of Liberty Island, Katja decided to work towards becoming a member of the X-Men. With Scott starting to train her, the two of them fell in love, not least thanks to Jean's and Scott's relationship being long far from happy, and Jean's budding feelings for Logan. After Liberty Island, Jean and Scott ended their relationship and got together with their new respective partners. As Katja was still busy settling in at Mutant High and Logan returned from his journey to Alkali Lake with no results, the Brotherhood made an attempt at kidnapping her for unknown reasons but failed. Soon afterward, a formerly-believed dead Sabretooth reemerged and kidnapped Ororo, torturing and injuring her badly before the X-Men could free her.

Starting in college shortly after Magneto had escaped prison, Katja met another student named Angelica Jones (Firestar), a former Mutant High resident who had cut ties to Charles though as she used to be a victim of Emma Frost and begrudged Charles for being loyal to Emma. When Katja was taken prisoner by the Brotherhood for blood tests and for Magneto trying to recruit her though, Angelica overcame her enmities and helped the X-Men free Katja. In the course of the same battle, Bobby explored his ice powers further and found out that he could turn his whole body to ice, underlining his status as a soon-to-be-member of the X-Men.

Raven's peace of mind had reached a new low.

It had taken her a few days to even admit to herself what that constant fatigue and dejection, her constant lousy mood even toward Erik, could only mean, but by now she could no longer deny it: She really wasn't doing so well. In fact, this felt like the worst phase she'd dragged herself through ever since she'd met Erik.

A state entirely intolerable, of course. She had no time for such nonsense, especially now with prospects being good that her team would finally be able to celebrate its greatest triumph. Occasional melancholy was fine; bathing in self-pity definitely was not.

Hopefully, the cause for this annoying flaw that threatened to affect even her focus on her job by now, was just this strange, cold room that might be her new home for some time to come. Far too small, mold-covered, without its own hygiene facilities, with poor lighting and an exclusive view of smelly sewer tunnels ... Actually, she would have been more than tired enough for a little rest right now, but with every doubtful glance through this chamber, she discovered a new filthy spot or a rodent nest that screamed for fumigation before she was willing to close her eyes in here. Oh, the things you did for working undisturbed in a safe hiding place.

Ever since the last encounter with Xavier's people, Erik had been working almost non-stop to seal all the entrances to their new quarters, using solid rock and dense steel plates so that it looked like there had never been any additional tunnels here. There was no way the X-Men would suspect the Brotherhood here. Nor would there hopefully be any more annoying meetings with Morlocks.

Still, that didn't mean Raven had to like it in this limited space, even though she would never have blamed Erik for such trivialities. These were part of this kind of life, just like the simple fact that their leader had, soberly seen, abandoned Victor and her in a dangerous spot in that last conflict. Securing his research data had taken priority; these were the kinds of things you accepted if you wanted to work on this team. If they started making the same emotional mistakes as their enemies, they would end up being ruined by the same defeats as them.

Erik knew what he was doing; that had never been different. If he said that the improved version of his ultimate weapon against humanity would be ready for use in the foreseeable future, that any sacrifice was justified for that goal, and that soon, all need to hide would end forever, that was enough motivation. Unlike people like Xavier, Erik could usually be expected to tell the truth, no matter how unpleasant it might often be.

So Raven gritted her teeth, accepted her new room without a comment when this morning, Erik, Victor, and she had been done moving at last – again with no problems – and buried herself in her extra homework regarding espionage in a certain hostile computer system again.

At least this part of the current dicey challenges, she could finally cross off the list, closing her laptop with a satisfied, brief nod after one last precautionary backup. She even managed to kill the isopod that was trying to make itself comfortable in the power socket with an impatient eye roll.

It was in no small thanks part to these efforts, she had discovered that the X-Men had not returned to the tunnels that Erik and the rest of them had previously used as a hideout. All weapons and equipment could have been brought here intact. A tactical error on the enemy's part, but a predictable one. Xavier had always remained in the defensive pose. If Erik didn't have such a bleeding heart when it came to his ex-lover and his people, the X-Men would long have been history.

An aggressive growl came from Raven's lips when she searched in her supplies, protected from bugs and wetness by an airtight metal cabinet, for a tablet to get rid of that uncomfortable twinge in her shoulder after all that typing, which was still coming from a certain hit from an optic blast recently. No, personally, she wouldn't have minded getting other insects out of the way for good as well. Starting with Walmart Freddy Krueger and definitely ending with that prettyboy who had the audacity to call himself a leader, although all you had to do was take away that loser's stupid sunglasses for him to go into fetal position. But since it was so important to Erik, Raven was holding back. Just barely.

On the upside, Erik rarely said anything against Raven's methods of keeping these pests at bay, as long as no one croaked in the process. Which meant, the next time One-Eye did as much as breathe in her immediate proximity, she would simply castrate him with a well-aimed kick the moment Erik wasn't looking. Which also had the advantage that the asshole's girlfriend, the new weather witch on the enemy team, would surely be too busy to be trouble for a while. The fewer of these idealists multiplied, the better.

This Wolverine guy, on the other hand … Him, Raven was ready to give a little leeway. Even though she didn't have permission to ghost him – and admittedly probably wouldn't have been able to, anyway –, fighting him was actually entertaining every now and then. Raven always loved a good challenge. The X-Men were being in her life far more often lately than she cared for, but they were a manageable nuisance.

In truth, it probably wasn't about them or this dump, not really. What occupied Raven's mind in sleepless nights most right now was the man to whom she had made an unconditional commitment a very long time ago, always soberly aware that only a fraction of that loyalty and affection was reciprocated.

Raven could have lived with the differences the two of them often had when it came to how to treat other mutants. Even with Erik's generally often disgustingly soft way of handling his opponents in battle.

But since his fortunately short-lived imprisonment after that battle at Liberty Island, he was ... different. No, that wasn't entirely true. This change, this very last clash with the X-Men had brought about. The day Erik had learned about Victor's little slip.

Raven herself could care less about that admittedly tasteless story. If Victor felt so very compelled to avenge his wounded pride over that shameful defeat at Liberty Island, that was his business. Raven wasn't anyone's nursemaid; she had decided against that very early in her life.

The way, he had treated Storm though, she didn't appreciate either. He should have just bitten all the way through the woman's throat when he'd been done with her.

After that, it would have been easy for the Brotherhood to deal with the X-Men, who in this case would surely have thrown themselves at them blind with lust for murder and hatred. If Erik's life or the lives of his followers were in danger, the rule against killing another mutant was quickly turning into a polite recommendation.

Well, Victor had blown that chance. Once again, there had been a bad argument between him and Erik ...

And since then, something was off with Erik. He was withdrawing. The plans for the new version of the mutation machine had not left his desk drawer for far too long. Flashwind's research results, which had supposedly been so important for that very weapon, were untouched. Concrete thoughts on how to get Toad out of jail as quickly as possible hadn't even come up yet.

Insecure. Erik had become insecure. And that was something the Brotherhood could afford least right now.

Raven had to talk to him; no one else in this ditch had the balls for that anyway. And that was the problem exactly. Addressing one of Erik's few weaknesses without provoking a confrontation with this person who was so important to her, was almost impossible.

Unfortunately, she had no choice. Enough sitting around, playing catch with vermin. Raven straightened her shoulders and made her way to her team leader's quarters.

"I've been expecting you, Raven." Erik sat at his desk, in front of his laptop, visibly more lost in thought once more today than doing serious work. "I was actually hoping you'd join me last night already."

"I was tired. And I had to plant a couple of Trojans, as you know, so we can be sure we'll be left alone this time."

Raven dismissed the hidden reproach with a quick shrug and sat down next to her boss on the desk, with her legs not entirely coincidentally spread a little too wide. "Can I make up for it by distracting you now?"

"There's not much you can distract me from," Erik admitted, surprisingly readily.

"I'm just refreshing my memory." He nodded at the monitor across which a database program that Raven had programmed himself was flickering, crammed with information about a wide variety of mutants. The tab that Erik had selected tonight listed people who had never had anything to do with the Brotherhood, but who had somehow become public at some point. Potential recruits. Erik was always observing a lot. Unlike Xavier, he picked his partners with care on principle. Most of these people had never become interesting to his team.

But the name the cursor was hovering over right now, Raven didn't read for the first time. "Anderson."

"You remember?" Erik leaned back in the chair and put his hands on his thighs, never taking his eyes off her. He was testing her reaction.

She knew that game well enough, and today she wasn't in the mood for it. "You've had him in your sights for years. My memory isn't that bad. He should be in his mid-twenties by now."

"Twenty-seven, as of today. Maybe that's why I was thinking about him earlier. On his fifteenth birthday, his parents were killed. An explosion brought down their house. The case was never solved; there are only rumors. At that point, Avery must have mutated in any case. Shortly afterward, I found his trail for the first time. The boy has incredible abilities. He can change the aggregate state of anything he touches, as well as his own body's."

Erik absently rubbed his right hand as he spoke. It was still giving him trouble, although the burns that the red-haired brat – who had actually been smart enough to turn her back on Xavier years ago but was apparently very keen on having her teeth bashed in again recently – had left on him in the last fight had almost healed. Actually, those were enough scars for this year.

"You always feared you couldn't control him," Raven reminded him, only mildly enthusiastic. She was polite enough to refrain from a distinctive glance at a very specific other scar, hidden on Erik's upper arm by his tight black shirt. Her interest in catching any such marks herself was extremely low. An infant in her group that surely she would end up having to teach manners was the last thing she needed at the moment.

"His powers are far too strong to affect, even for me, that's true. The boy was always a risk. But we're short a couple of full-time supporters. And Avery has hopefully grown up by now. He's been in jail for some time and moved back to New York a few weeks ago. Now he's started college. This is the best time to get to him."

Erik nodded slowly and bent over the keyboard again, using a few well-practiced commands to send said database entry to Raven's network username, ending the discussion. "Get on his trail. Arrange a meeting. I want to give it at least one more try. Under no circumstances, that boy is to join Charles."

"There's no telling, Xavier doesn't already know about him," Raven pointed out.

Admittedly, not only out of pure diligence, she unceremoniously settled down on Erik's lap, not even bothering to keep any more distance than necessary from her leader. Via the headquarter's brand-new internet access – which was well-secured thanks to several titanium-clad fiber optic lines and numerous VPN tunnels –, she established a connection to the network of the city's universities so that she could start to take a closer look at her new target from a distance.

"I doubt it." A bitter grin curled on Erik's lips, as usual at the mention of his old lover. Warmly, calmly, his hand came to rest on Raven's thigh, surely not entirely accidentally a little too far on the inside too, while he looked over her shoulder.

The smile turned into an appreciative one when Raven achieved getting access to the most recent students' files in a matter of minutes. The protection of state office servers was about the same quality as a rotten fence around a billionaire's mansion. Or the security systems at the Xavier Institute.

Unfortunately, the results of this initial research were less than satisfactory. "Hardly any personal data, no report cards either. There's no way this went through the admission office like this. The entry is fresh, created at 3 a.m. in the morning. Someone must have helped get this through. Are you sure the guy hasn't ended up at Xavier's already?"

"Positive. Avery has always been very careful to keep underground. No one knows he's not part of the underdeveloped species. Even an accident at the foster home where they placed him after his parents had died has been covered up. After that, he went into hiding. He didn't even care about his father's business and wealth until there was nothing left of it."

"And his criminal career? That's been all over the media." Raven still wasn't convinced.

"Charles rarely picks crime heavyweights as associates if he can avoid it." A soft laugh escaped Erik. That was exactly the fundamental difference between Xavier and him. Erik knew where to find his strongest allies. The way his fingertips painted larger and larger circles over Raven's thigh admittedly distracted her further from the tedious debate, which was long lost anyway.

"And even if he'd noticed a man, of all people, who robbed three Las Vegas casinos alone years ago, he wouldn't find him because the guy always wore a mask. That's how he was pictured in the newspapers at the time, too. Only you and I know that this man's name is Avery Anderson and that he's a mutant, and even that only because I was already on him back then. Our path is clear if we act quickly now."

"Well, at least I won't have to look for him at college for long," Raven noticed with a raised eyebrow after skimming the student's file once more. "If this goes on, we'll have to pay rent to the faculty, given how often I've been standing around there like an idiot lately." With a quick double-click, she marked the spot for Erik that said, something fundamental had only just been changed in this young man's less-than-legal-looking enrollment.

No, there might not be any certain other mutant group keeping an eye on this guy yet. The Brotherhood would probably indeed have heard about that otherwise, given how recklessly Xavier liked to send new recruits into battle lately. But that didn't mean, it might not be the case the other way around.

"Interesting. And even better for us." Thoughts were racing behind Erik's low forehead, behind his furrowed thick eyebrows. There were a few details regarding Avery's history still that he hadn't revealed to Raven, she sensed it clearly. And when Erik was trying to keep something from her, it was usually for reasons she couldn't do much about with words.

One or two orgasms in the course of the night might have more of an effect though. With this man, that had always been one of the most effective weapons.

"I'm counting on you to find the right arguments. We need him."

"Does that mean you're giving up on Toad?" Raven's eyes narrowed. That was unusual, even for someone like Erik, who didn't care about his people half as much as Xavier did.

Besides, no matter how little she cared for Toad herself, they would have an increased need on the team for an accomplished electrical engineer, especially in the near future.

"No, it just means I'm changing the schedule. Should Avery join us, prison walls will no longer be a problem."

With that, Erik flipped his laptop shut, ending the conversation without compromise, and pushed it aside with an invisible wave of his hand before pulling Raven closer.

A first demanding kiss made her forget all doubts at least for the moment.

The end of the summer seminar that day was a true relief for all thirty of the participating future psychology freshmen. Although it was 6 o'clock in the evening, it was almost 70 degrees outside. Not a temperature that made it easier to follow a lecture that was only moderately interesting anyway.

Angelica and Katja were probably the only ones in the room who didn't mind these kinds of circumstances. Their mutations included not only control over one or two elements but also a certain resistance to heat. Nevertheless, the two of them were just as glad to leave the university building, as usual, mostly to escape the suspicious glances of the others that on some days were anything but harmless. Since some recent incident with one of her enemies in the Brotherhood, Katja was known as a mutant at college and was shunned by her future fellow students most of the time.

And Angelica as someone who kept her own powers hidden from the public when she wasn't out and about in her second identity but who remained by Katja's side unfazed, was inevitably met with the same fate.

The young woman, however, rarely let such hostility spoil her day. Since she'd recently resumed her friendship with her childhood friend Bobby, a housemate of Katja's in Xavier's mutant school, she was in a remarkably good mood anyway. Their mutual acquaintance, and the fact that Angelica and Bobby had played a not insignificant part in freeing Katja from being a Brotherhood's captive the other day, had brought the three of them together closely. By now, they often spent time together outside of these introduction courses, too; a friendly kind of being watched by not one but two powerful power sets at once that not least Katja's future teammates were very much in favor of as long as it wasn't clear if Magneto wouldn't try to hire her or examine soon again.

Today, Angelica noticeably didn't feel like hanging out alone in her much-too-large apartment as well. "You in for shopping downtown, Cat?"

"I already got a ride, I'm afraid. Dance practice night," Katja replied, admittedly not entirely heartbroken. Extensive trips to the mall were not exactly among her favorite hobbies, not even for her friend's sake. "You know that one local Latin competition is in three weeks already ... Hey, you guys wanna watch the road?"

Annoyed, she jumped to the side when a couple of male students whizzed by her on their scooters far too closely, almost ramming her.

The group had only an insolent grin her way to spare for her. The barely avoided accident had apparently been intentional. "Or what? Will the poor little mutie throw some lightning at us? Go ahead, try. At least then we won't be bothered by you freaks here again."

Ever since the university's dean – in no small part due to Katja's encounter with Toad – had issued a new house rule banning the use of supernatural abilities anywhere on the university campus, under penalty of exclusion for non-compliance, some people felt definitely too safe about open hostility toward the few known mutants at the institution.

Katja wouldn't have dreamed of giving an appropriate answer or worse, going after those asshats. What good would that have done? She only cynically wondered how the university would have reacted when someone approached this house with hostile intentions next. If Katja would dutifully follow the rules then. Then there would be more injured, maybe even dead people, than last time. Maybe humanity actually needed just such a cautionary nudge in the right direction sometimes.

"Fucking wankers."

"Let it go. You know how they get, Cat." Angelica put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "It won't be like this forever."

"I don't know how you can be so chill," Katja muttered, shaking her head.

"By the way, is there any way to stop you from calling me that?" While she did like cats a lot on principle ... The whole claw thing, she gladly left to Logan.

"Not a chance. 'Katja' started to get too complicated for me," Angelica grinned promptly.

"Primitive American and all, you know. Sadly, they don't teach us three different languages here in elementary school alone. Besides, I'm not chill. I'm resigned. I've dealt with far worse problems you can get into as a mutant too often to still lose sleep over a few primates." A steep crease of hatred appeared between her fine red eyebrows, lit up as an echo of her powers in her pretty green eyes for a moment, making any further elaboration unnecessary. Angelica's enmity with Emma Frost, that one woman who ran an asylum for mutants just like Xavier, was widely known among the X-Men. Katja and Angelica had never talked about it, but Katja had heard enough from the others to not want to torture her friends with questions.

"Sure you don't want to come? That will distract you from those assholes immediately." Angelica pointed at the young man who had joined their class today. "I'm going to show farmboy downtown."

"Oh, so you fired Bobby as your bag carrier already? I'm sure Marie and he will hate it if he actually stays home for a whole afternoon." Katja winked at her, ignoring Angelica's offended pout, not least as a small revenge for that stupid new nickname, which of course had promptly spread at the Xavier Institute like wildfire, too.

And an occasional reminder that Bobby had been dating someone else for some time couldn't hurt anyway, seeing as he and Angelica liked to forget that in their enthusiasm over their newly flared acquaintance sometimes. Marie had truly had enough drama in her young life already.

"Nah, the guy has nothing to worry about," the blond guy next to Angelica dryly commented, who had apparently become something like Katja's fellow sufferer in the last few hours. "As long as the girl doesn't stop calling me Av, that friend zone between us is safe."

"Well, 'Bedroom Eyes' would have been a little straightforward, wouldn't it?" Angelica defended her little quirk unapologetically.

"You can save those for others now, Anderson, by the way. You're not irresistible enough to be forgiven some friend zone shit."
When Avery surprisingly apologized for the stupid remark, she was quick enough to accept it though. "Forget it. You mind if I say a quick hello to the guy who does the next watchdog shift for Katja? At the mansion where she lives, we've all known each other for a while."

"Take your time. I don't have plans tonight."

Katja thought she noticed a brief hesitation on Avery's part in the face of this request, but dismissed it. How was he supposed to know the true nature of Mutant High? New York was not a village like Katja's hometown in Germany, where practically everyone was related to everyone else 10 times removed. And Avery wasn't even from here originally.

When she looked briefly, inquiringly into the young man's eyes, she noticed – not for the first time – how tall he was. He could almost have looked Sabretooth in the face ...

The thought of Creed immediately sent ice-cold shivers down her spine.

During her captivity, the guy had meant to kill her. No matter what Magneto said, Katja had no doubt about that. And the bastard would have taken his time. He wouldn't just give up easily on Ororo either, whom he had chosen as his declared primary target. It was only a matter of time before the next confrontation with these bloodthirsty, vengeful monsters in her enemies' team.

By then, Katja had to be better prepared than she felt after a few short months of combat training with Scott. Since she lived in Westchester, there always seemed to be too few hours in the day. Maybe her partner could be persuaded to add a little sparring to today's schedule, after the dancing practice ...

But for that, she had to make it to the meeting with him first.

The mass gathering in the courtyard was terrible. Why did all lecturers have to close their classes at once? Once Marie started studying here, with her skin-reactionary gift, she would feel anything but comfortable.

It was these kinds of fears and insecurities that Katja often discussed with the teenagers and, in cautious initial conversations, with the younger children at Xavier's institution. Like the others on her future team, she tried her best to be there for the pupils, to give them hope and optimism ... But after scenes like the one a minute ago, that sometimes felt like downright acting.

Katja was relieved when she was finally able to leave this baroque building behind, which she had developed a great dislike for despite its noble aesthetics with the many high columns and the huge paintings on the walls. Scott's current favorite car – a jet-black Ford Probe –, she had already spotted in the parking lot outside the entrance. "Hey. Glad you made it." Wrapping her arms around her partner, she greeted him with a quick kiss, taking a deep breath when his presence chased away all unpleasant thoughts immediately, as usual.

"Scott, meet ..." She paused.

When her fellow students approached and Katja was seeing Scott's suddenly deathly pale face, it was clear she could save her breath. "Uh … You two know each other?"

"Summers." There was no more trace of Avery's charming nonchalance. Now his face had turned into a grimace of shock. "I should have guessed; not even this damn town can be big enough. Is this one of those things you're obsessing about, showing up to fuck me up every time I've just started over? Do me a favor, find a different toy this time."

Abruptly turning away, he stormed off, leaving Angelica just standing there as well.

"Av, wait ..."

Avery didn't even turn around; Scott's request had admittedly sounded rather half-hearted, anyway.

Completely caught off guard, Katja felt like following the young man for a moment, but then thought better of it. First, she wanted to know from Scott what the hell had just happened.

With every second that she looked at her partner with a worried frown, her stomach started clenching more.

It was rare that she had heard so much uncontrolled pain in his voice, noticed such a dejected, lost posture on him with slumped shoulders, both hands buried in his pants pockets. Scott was someone who had to control both his body and his emotions as much as possible in everyday life because of his mutation, just like herself. Unlike Katja, he'd actually mastered that flawlessly for years, too.

"Look, I don't know what the problem is between you two, but calling him that definitely won't help ..."

"Let's get out of here." Scott didn't even respond to the feeble attempt at a joke but pointed toward the passenger door unmistakably.

"See you soon, Angelica." Without even really looking at the young woman, he got into the car himself. His thoughts were obviously miles away from this university.

Katja shrugged her shoulders in confusion, also just nodding quickly to her friend in farewell. "I'll call you later."

Notes:

Uh yeah. We're back? I've recently had a very low phase about my work because of resurfacing OC hostility in fandom, so it was kind of hard for me, preparing this next update because as you can see, we have a new player coming into the game. With the sheer amount of canon characters these series are revolving around, personally, I don't think two OCs ALSO having a somewhat substantial role should be a problem, but there are obviously many people thinking otherwise, so yeah. Just meant to say, you wanna leave because you don't like OCs? Now might be a good time. And if you don't? A hug would be nice right now. Anyway, we'll learn all about what the fuck went down between Scott and Avery when they were teenagers in the next chapter, and it's pretty integral to Scott as I see him in movieverse, so I really enjoy this storyline. And I hope so do you. It's gonna get plenty fucked up, that much I can promise.

Series this work belongs to:

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