X-Men and Brotherhood/Acolytes/Magneto belong to Marvel Comics Inc. and a bunch of other companies who endorse their merchandise. I am by no means affiliated with aforementioned parties, aside from spending ridiculous amounts of money on their publications from time to time. I am not making any profit from this story.
I seem to have trouble getting to accept normal paragraphs. I've never been able to get it to use the indented paragraph correctly, so I decided to separate them all with a space. This seems to work better anyway, so until I find a way to remedy my problem, this will be the way. Sorry.
Kiley and Cheryl are original characters and just happen to be my best friend and myself, so don't use them, particularly when involving exchange of capital, unless you intend to reward us our due royalties.
Banshee's brogue. Ugh. So many spell-check issues. Now that Sean actually has some substantial lines, this is getting frustrating. By the way; I'm completely aware that Sean's brogue in this story tends to lean more toward Scottish than Irish. This stems from my own Scot-Irish heritage, not often having to distinguish between the two accents since I understand and am commonly subjected to both, whether within my family or not. I could explain this by having Sean attend University in Scotland for several years before joining the Secret Service, but instead, I call it artistic license and leave it at that. BWAHAHAHA! a-herm Right.
"Concerning the Past"
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The Misfit stomped up the tall staircase leading to her and her partner's temporary residence feeling more than a little harassed. Somehow, that insufferable brute had caught up with them, and no doubt the rest were soon to follow; she didn't believe for a second that he had come alone. Still, she couldn't be sure how many of the "X-Men" there actually were, much less how many of them had come with him. She suddenly became concerned that they might not be able to escape the next time they met a group of them.
"Persistent buggers," she muttered.
Although the two women had never heard of the X-Men before two nights ago, other than what they read in the papers, the old man in the wheelchair seemed to know a lot about the two of them. If Logan was telling the truth, then that man was a telepath, and that caused serious problems for them if they allowed the X-Men to catch up to them. They would have to keep moving from town to town until the pursuit ended, and Kiley did not like that idea at all. It was very unsettling to think that this was the first time either woman had ever been caught unprepared. Deciding she didn't want to think on the matter anymore for the time being, she tightened her grip on the bag of fruit she was holding to her chest now.
Then she remembered something else Logan had said. "'Last we heard of Pietro, he was looking for you in Green Bay." So, Magneto was cheating after all. Still, it depended on which of the two found them first. Magneto was probably counting on that, being the more intelligent of the two by far. This was, of course, no insult to Pietro; Magneto was reputably one of the most intelligent men in the world. He was, however, running out of time. The second day of their covenant was quickly coming to an end, and Magneto lacked the speed he would most likely need to find them before midnight the next night. His best option would to no doubt use Pietro's, or Quicksilver's, speed to find the girls and relay their location to Magneto without being noticed. Kiley suddenly became very weary of her surroundings.
Lost in thought, she nearly missed the floor the apartment was on, and doubled back a few steps to enter the landing. She opened the first door she came to, ambling inside and calling out to her friend to announce her return.
Cheryl had been in the kitchen most of the day, reading a book. That was where Kiley had found her once again, and she set the fruit on the table. Kiley grabbed an apple, took it to the sink to wash, and sat in a chair across from her.
"We've got trouble," she said, bringing Cheryl out of her book. Cheryl stared at her hard for a moment, and then put the book down, waiting for an explanation. Kiley started with the strange encounter that happened upon her that evening…
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Logan had found the perfect spot to watch the building from, and sat patiently as he waited for the slightest sign of activity. He watched over the small apartment from the roof of a much taller building nearby. From his perch, Logan could see the windows of both walls of the apartment he saw the two women in, the front door to the building, and the entire ceiling, just in case.
When he was sure both Misfits were too distracted to notice his vigilant figure on top of the building across the street, he relaxed somewhat and rose to sit comfortably on the corner of the roof. He reached inside his denim jacket and retrieved the cigars he had bought earlier that day. He grabbed one and brought it to his lips. Patting down his jacket once more, he searched for a match. He was out. When he left the manor, he hadn't brought the lighter Jubilee had given him. He hadn't brought anything, truthfully; he hadn't even thought to. He snatched for the cigar in his mouth with an irritated snarl and stuffed it back into the inside pocket of his jacket.
He considered alerting Banshee to the situation, but figured he'd give his friend a few extra hours of sleep. The train ride had flustered the Irishman much more than Logan would have liked. Sean was never known for his love of locomotives, but it had never been this bad before. However, Cassidy had thought about many other things to agitate his nerves on the way. Whatever the explanation, he had gone straight to sleep when they checked into a hotel near the station, leaving Logan to do the scouting work for the day. Logan was fine with that. The more rested the Banshee was, the less Logan would have to be worried for his safety.
It was now dusk. The streetlamps below flickered on, and Logan could see that the entire town began switching on lights inside the buildings around him. Offices were beginning to close, cars were being started for the ride home, and the highways glittered with the distant headlights. At the ground level of the building he was perched on, a nightclub was opening, and he could smell pizza, Cajun cooking, and Chinese being prepared at various restaurants around the city for the dinnertime rush. Taking in the sights, sounds, and smells around him, he almost missed the Misfits going out for a nighttime stroll… on the roof.
That was it. It was time to wake up Cassidy. Logan lifted his right arm to his face and spoke into the communication device in his wristwatch; "wake up, Banshee! They're on the move. I'm going to keep an eye on them while you get your Irish butt over here."
"Sorry, Wolverine, I dozed off a bit longer than expected," came the response, "I'll be with ye in a jiff."
Logan turned the device off. He would not accept being noticed while he was tailing the two women because some damn fool wanted to chat; the young Bobby Drake had once given him cause for this reasoning. He deftly leapt from the roof onto the next to get a clearer view of the Misfits' activities. For the moment, they were stagnant. They seemed to be having an anxious conversation. He chuckled a bit; he could hear his name being spoken, the sound of Kiley's voice dripping with acid.
When he was on the roof of the smaller building closest the apartment complex, he once again leapt up from roof to roof, this time grabbing the ledge just underneath the Misfits while they were distracted. The conversation paused. Logan cursed; his foot had hit the brick wall he was clinging to. Luckily, rather than investigate, the Misfits decided they had hung around for long enough and began to move. They came to the ledge and jumped off, landing side by side at the ground beneath him.
They then began to run. Logan grinned, thrilled at the prospect of a hunt, and extended the half-dozen claws from between his knuckles into the brick wall and slid down, the blades slowing his descent. When he was halfway down, he once again retracted his claws, turning and running the rest of the way down the wall. A few feet from the ground, he propelled himself forward with his legs, landing in a crouch, and springing back into a run, still laughing quietly to himself. They had run in the direction of the hotel that, at that very moment, Sean Cassidy was exiting.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Standing in front of the automatic doors of the hotel he was staying at, Sean tugged at the collar of the black turtleneck sweater he had just put on when Logan gave him the order to get moving. It was the middle of winter, but he still felt unusually warm, the result of his intense unease. He checked himself-his jeans, the sweater, and the long coat he wore were all in good condition. He didn't want to look as if he had climbed out of bed just moments before, which was indeed what he had done. That would likely attract undue attention to himself, which he certainly did not need at the moment.
Realizing the doors were not shutting because of his presence, he began to walk in the direction Logan's signal had come from. His thoughts wondered from one subject to the next, tending to veer toward the inevitable meeting with the Misfits. Whenever that happened, Sean tried to think of something else. He had finally decided he would wait for the encounter to think of what to say, seeing how years of doing the same had gotten him nowhere.
A commotion arose just up ahead of him. The crowd of people being jostled about was in his path to Logan's location, so he moved on ahead. However, seconds later, two young women broke through the crowd at full speed, abandoning all pretense of femininity in their frantic getaway. Pushing other pedestrians aside, they hurled themselves forward. In the second it took them to pass him, Sean turned his head toward the direction of one, and caught a glimpse of her face in the dim evening light. Quickly, he turned about completely, stricken dumb with astonishment. It was them! And judging by the pace at which they were racing, they already knew they were being followed, so…
"Wait!" he called, breaking into a sprint just as Logan came behind him, similarly vexed. "Logan! What happened? How'd they find ye?" Sean called out, falling a bit behind to run next to his friend.
"I ain't sure," Logan breathed, a look of apprehension haunting his features, "They stopped for two seconds to talk, then all of a sudden, they broke off runnin'. I'm not even sure they spotted me at all, Irish."
"Is that all?" Sean's brow creased, as he was beginning to worry.
"Well, yer gal brought out one o' those beasts she used back at the bank, talked to it for a sec, then the both of them drained of all color. They looked scared, Cass'. I couldn't begin to tell you what of."
"Uh… I think I can be givin' ye a hint, old chum," Sean said, looking skyward. Logan's gaze followed, and was caught there by the sight above them. It was a human figure, floating in the sky. Around it, the air seemed to crackle with pure electricity. Downward it soared, seemingly unaffected by the shrieks of terror that erupted from the multitudes below.
Magneto.
Sean violently yanked Logan's arm his way just before Logan would have smacked into a mail bin. Logan stumbled a bit, but managed to keep his footing, taking the lead again, and motioning for Sean to follow him, tracking their prey by scent. They had turned into another street that was less conspicuous just as Magneto came low enough to spot.
Logan turned, shoving Sean forward into the road to keep going. Logan lagged behind a few steps to watch as the Mutant Master of Magnetism dove headlong towards them, the sheer power that was required for him to take flight bending streetlamps, cars, and even the steel frame of a skyscraper in his direction. Magneto was angry, and now the entire city of Chicago was the object of his wrath.
Logan had to duck quickly as Magneto swooped down over his head, bringing a trash bin behind. The metal receptacle slammed into Logan's spine, the force driving him fully to the ground. He looked up again to see Sean gain on the women, leap forward, and roll with them to the ground just before Magneto caught up himself. Unable to stop immediately at such a high speed, he allowed himself to fly upward for a distance before turning and leering down at them.
Unhurt because of his adamantium-laced skeleton, but dazed, Logan began to rise, pausing when Magneto stopped moving as well. He saw Sean rise and help each Misfit up.
"Are ye all right?" the Irishman asked them, looking up at Magneto, expecting them to take off again.
"What are you-" Kiley began, bewildered. She looked up at the man who had "rescued" them, recognizing him instantly. She stared at him for a long moment before she realized where she had seen this face before. Sean stared back. He didn't like the expression he was given when a look of complete acknowledgment crossed her features. He winced slightly, but stood fully upright, continuing to watch her intently.
"Cassidy!" she gawked, and this surprise was not welcome at all.
"Kiley…" he sighed, hoping he would figure out something to say before it was too late; before Magneto decided to take what he had come for. For now, Sean noticed, he continued to float motionlessly in the air above them, watching. Laughing?
"Who is this person? What's going on?" Cheryl panted from beside the two. Both Misfits had been rather flustered from the jolt the man had given them, and neither was feeling anything less than pain, both in their legs and feet, and in their chests, hearts pounding from the assault.
Logan began to move forward, anxious of the figure above them as well. He figured that now was the time to find out what Sean had been so afraid of talking about all this time. It wasn't necessarily being nosey; Cheryl and Magneto were apparently about to hear about it as well.
"Let's hear it, bub. What's this all about?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Logan!" Kiley called out, not quite sure what she should be feeling right now. Between being found by Magneto and finding Cassidy here, of all places, her psyche was being wracked by several emotions all at once.
"No! Dinnae pay any attention tae them, Kiley," Sean suddenly shouted, deciding to take control while she was still in shock, "You n' I have a lot o' talkin' tae do, lass, and they dinnae matter at this point. It's been years, and it won't matter a bit if they hear what either of us has tae say. I'm the only one left, for Christ's sake, Kiley!"
Kiley's eyes flickered between the man standing before her and the others around her. He was right. After such a long time, it didn't matter who heard anymore. For years, she had tried to forget her past, and now it was standing right in front of her, staring down at her with a wild look. She began to shrink away in an overwhelmed state, first turning her head, then sinking into a sitting position at Sean's feet. Sean calmed a bit before following, kneeling beside her and looking her in the eye once again.
"Tell me what's going on, Kiley!" Cheryl called out to her, watching her friend, seemingly helpless for the first time since they had met.
"Yeah, tell us all." Logan prodded, walking closer, now certain Magneto was going to stay where he was for the time being.
"Alright," Sean sighed, looking up at Logan for a moment. Kiley's gaze snapped back at him.
"I thought they didn't matter," her eyes narrowed. Sean began to feel nervous again, but moved on nonetheless.
"I said it so we could speak despite their presence. Even so, I have tae come tae terms with what happened, and sayin' it out loud might help me do just that. Who cares if they hear?" Sean stood, facing the others. "What I've tae say is very personal. I'd appreciate it if it's kept between us, an' I think Kiley would as well. Fifteen years ago, I was still livin' at home with me parents. I come from a very wealthy Irish family from the Dublin area, if Kiley didnae tell ye that, lass," he said to Cheryl, "About that time, me parents adopted a little girl, very much younger than I. That lass was very special tae all o' us…"
Kiley stared indifferently forward while he spoke. Logan stood with an eyebrow arched, beginning to piece together what may have happened, and Cheryl listened intently, neither girl sharing the complete truth about their pasts with each other, empathetic to the kind of pain each had endured. However, her good friend had mentioned this man before.
"She came tae fit perfectly within the family structure," Sean continued, "I never had any younger siblings, and me parents wanted another child badly, although it was physically impossible for me agin' mother, already in her forties, and not in the best o' health, but that's something different entirely. We all loved her dearly, and she seemed tae love us as well. However, that seemed tae have been forgotten along the way…
"Years later, I discovered that I was different from most. I discovered that I had a mutant gene in me. I fled our home at Cassidy Keep, hidin' meself from me parents, and joinin' the Secret Service straight out o' University. I came back tae visit only occasionally. Every Christmas, I'd come home for the family dinner. Maybe once more during the year. That was all. I ne'er told me parents about me gifts because I knew how they would react. I did tell me adopted sister though. I held her in me arms one night and took her for a ride when I discovered I could fly as well. I could never know that little girl had the same genetic make-up."
Kiley's head rose slightly, and she turned towards Sean, listening to him tell the story.
"One day after work, about five years ago, I received a call from me folks. They were ravin' on about the little mutant lass in their house. Me father boasted proudly o' how he had run her off into the night with a huntin' rifle. 'Said she'd been using some strange power tae conjure up monsters in the fields. I hung up the phone because I couldnae think of anything tae say tae them. I was terrified. Terrified somethin' may have happened tae her, terrified she had died. What frightened me most was the thought that, had I not been a mutant myself, I might've reacted the same way. I headed back home. I didn't speak tae me parents, though they were there, askin' me questions. They disgusted me, turning on her suddenly like that. I just wanted tae find her. She wisnae hidin' in the house or on the grounds, so I searched the entire island for her, but me sister was gone. Vanished. Next I hear o' her, it's five years later-two days ago-and she's theivin'," Sean turned back to Kiley, the same wild look in his eyes from before, "our parents are dead. They'll probably never know what they did tae ye. At first I wouldn't believe it, but here ye are, the very same woman Xavier described tae me. I know what they did. They cannae be forgiven, but I'm askin' ye tae forgive me for me for failing ye- maybe I didnae look hard enough. I didnae even think you might leave the country tae escape our-"
"What is this 'our'?" Kiley swiftly rose, a brash change to her normally detached attitude, "Even if they were still living, they never were and never will be 'our' parents!" she sprung at him, grasping at his throat, surprising even Magneto, and began to scream viciously at Sean, "YOUR parents flung me out into the night, telling all their neighbors-all the city even!- about the mutant girl living in their home. They told one family I had tried to kill them in their sleep! The wolves of Dublin closed in around me, licking their chops at a fresh 'mutie' for the slaughter. Life outside that sheltered home taught me how to scratch a living! What did you expect me to become, some helpless debutante, woefully searching for someone to save her?" Her grip tightened, and Sean gasped for air, fighting to break free, slowly sinking toward the ground. "I rid myself of that family as quickly as possible. I rid myself of you! The brother that never cared. Don't tell me you searched high and low for me; if you truly had, you would have found me being stoned in the streets in broad daylight! You wanna see the scar from one particularly nasty little bloke in Drogheda? It's right here!"
Kiley removed one hand from Sean's throat just long enough to point to what was once a deep gash, stretching from just below her ear to underneath her chin, about two inches in length. Sean coughed weakly, his eyes red from the struggle. Despite the glaze of water over them, Sean could clearly see the scar. His lungs violently contracted with another cough, and he looked at her face once again, unable to hear Logan shouting as he tried to pull her off. He considered using his shrieking power, but even if he had the ability to use his vocals at that particular moment, he wasn't sure he had it in him to hurt her; the girl he remembered.
"Of course I left that country. I didn't look back once. I left behind the name of Cassidy; I even trained myself to speak without the regional accent! I wanted nothing to ever remind me of you and YOUR parents!" Logan finally managed to lift her off of Cassidy when she lightened her grip. Finished with her ranting, she allowed him to place her back on the ground, him standing between her and the recovering Irishman. Sean stood, staggering to keep his balance.
"I…had no idea," he gasped, his vision still blurry and his lungs still throbbing with pain.
"Damn right you hadn't," she snorted, turning her back on him and facing Magneto, crossing her arms and planting her feet firmly on the ground. "Well, Magneto, it seems you've found us. We'll keep our word; give us your order, and we will fulfill it gladly," she gave a small bow, but whether it was in earnest, none could tell. Cheryl came to stand next to her friend, awaiting Magneto's word. For a moment, he merely hovered. Then, he began to slowly descend. Magneto scanned the area for a moment.
Suddenly, he turned toward a line of parked cars, stretching his arms out wide. The cars, along with a hodge-podge of metal debris surrounding them, lifted into the air, willed by the movements of Magneto's arms. Slowly, he drew his arms inward, shifting the constitution of the metal itself. Balling his hands into fists, the cars completely compacted into solid blocks. He converged them all, hollowing it to create a giant vessel. Magneto lowered his arms and the craft touched the ground. An entrance irised open.
Aside from seeing him levitate himself, neither woman had seen Magneto utilize his powers. Both merely stood in awe as each vehicle was reduced to simple raw material within seconds. The plastic bits and pieces, tires, papers, and other non-metallic knick-knacks merely being dropped to the asphalt beneath. They looked back at Magneto, who nodded toward his creation. They looked at each other quizzically, but approached it as they were silently commanded. Sean watched in horror, and began to shake feverishly as he watched them go. He gnashed his teeth, growing even angrier as Magneto directed a smug sneer at him.
"I won't allow it!" he bellowed, lunging forward to grab both girls' arms, turning and running. Logan was nearly trampled in Sean's wake; he cursed and turned to follow. Cheryl and Kiley barely realized what was happening when Sean shrieked and took flight, barraging their eardrums with the eerie wail. They cringed and tried to cover their ears, but were already at a considerable height. They didn't dare fight their captor's grip.
Suddenly, they realized they didn't have to; Magneto had pursued them closely, and continued to gain. Held in suspension over his open palm was a tiny metal sphere. He hurled it forward, striking Sean in the back. The Misfits looked up, realizing they weren't being held aloft any longer! Sean was falling as well, unable to muster enough strength to keep even himself in the air. Magneto retrieved the metal, extracting a very different kind of scream from the Irishman, just as ear splittingly piercing.
Magneto ignored the X-Man from that point, rushing to rescue his soon-to-be subordinates. He concentrated on any metals he could find on them to keep them from plummeting to their deaths. Belt buckles were the easiest to get a bead on, so he focused on those until he could reach them himself. Startled by the sudden jolt, flustered by the fall, but unharmed, they waited to touch the ground again.
The women were going to be safe. Logan realized this. But he had to make it in time to cover Cassidy's fall! He leapt forward, reaching out to catch his falling comrade. At the last second, Cassidy gathered his wits just enough to manage a strangled cry; just enough to keep him from liquidating on the pavement upon impact. Still, he landed with a sickening crack, and his cry fell short once more. Logan stumbled onto his own face two feet away, stopping himself from running Cassidy over and injuring him further.
From his place lying in the middle of a more open street, Cassidy looked down at his legs. One was twisted in a way that he thought anatomically impossible. There went the chance that he had been imagining the snap he heard. The pain shot through him like a chill, causing him to wince and twist. He and Logan stared at each other for a moment, feeling more or less helpless. With his adamantium-grafted skeleton, Logan wasn't much use against the Mutant Master of Magnetism, and Cassidy's final attempt at a rescue had just ended with not so much a bang as with a crunch. A painful, clearly audible crunch. Cassidy brought himself to look up to where the Misfits were being placed. Magneto's strange creation found its way to a spot nearby, just outside a coffee shop, waiting to be put to use.
Cheryl and Kiley touched the ground nearby, and merely watched coldly as Logan attempted to help his friend. Magneto, on the other hand, had decided he had had enough. It was time to take of his reward for these foolish games.
