Gifts and Curses
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "You're the best evil sister ever"
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Chapter 14 – Hide and seek
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"I am so getting sick of all the sewer water stink"
The rest of the Brotherhood (they still couldn't get used to the handle 'Freedom Force East, and Nick Fury had given up trying to convince them otherwise, it only resulted in a migraine) gave a collective groan. It had been a week since they had been in search of X23, and the tunnels underneath Bayville proved harder to navigate than they had originally thought.
"Pietro, stop whining", snapped Wanda, "we're all sick of the sewer water stink"
"You have ta hand it ta the Morlocks", said Todd as he crawled along the ceiling above their heads, "they know how ta hide"
"Any luck?", came Rosemary's voice over the COM link.
"Nothing", said Lance, "just tunnels, and tunnels and tunnels"
"We're never gonna find her", said Pyro, from where he was walking ahead, a small ball of fire floating above him, lighting the way, "she obviously doesn't want to be found"
"I can't blame her", said Wanda, "if she does get caught.. she'll be locked away. That isn't a nice experience, I know that only too well"
"Okay…from the looks of these maps, there's a tunnel to the left of you after this passageway", came Rosemary's voice, "try there"
"I'm the boss", said Pietro, stamping his foot on the floor, making a small splash of sewer water, "I say where we go! Me, me, me, me, me, me ME!"
He cleared his throat, starting off ahead of them.
"We'll take a left after this tunnel"
"I won't kill him", chanted Freddy, "I won't kill him"
"No, I will", said Wanda, "I bagsie the job"
Unseen by any of them, Façade crawled along the walls, pausing to blink at them from where he was camouflaged against the wall. He watched the team head off down the left tunnel, shaking his head in amusement as he headed off down the right. Topsiders.
After a while of maneuvering around the sewers, doubling back on himself a few times in case he was followed, he eventually made it into the Alley. Callisto looked up, sensing him long before he made himself visible.
"Are they any nearer in finding us?", she asked.
"No", said Façade, shaking his head, "the only way they'll find the Alley is if they stumble on it accidentally, and Caliban will sense them long before that happens"
"So will I", growled X-23, where she leaned against the walls, still away from the group, but close enough to be involved….at least she was slightly warming up to people.
"Don't worry, we won't let them take you", said Callisto, then looked at Façade, "you get it?"
He nodded, handing Callisto a small piece of card.
"I really hope this was worth the trouble"
Callisto smiled, opening it with a grin.
"It definitely was", she said, "Evan, it came!"
A defeated sigh could be heard down tunnels, before Evan appeared, walking like a man about to meet his fate.
"…It did"
"Yeah", said Callisto, "and you said she would forget about us. You should know Sidney better than that"
She smiled, handing Evan the wedding invitation. Evan blinked at it, arching a brow.
"She's invited all the Morlocks?".
"Those that will go, anyway", said Callisto, then sighed, "it's so nice to see them getting married. After all this time, they can finally be together. Two soul mates, joined together for life"
She grinned.
"I'm going to tell Torpid, no doubt she will want to go with her not-boyfriend"
With that, Callisto flounced off. The Morlocks present watched this with a small sense of wonder. Callisto wasn't known for her flouncing tendencies.
"If ssshe hinted any harder sssshe'd be ssssmacking you with a brick", observed Caliban.
"Yeah, thanks, Cal", said Evan dryly, "I caught that"
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In Central Park, Lorna paced along the pathway, frowning.
"He's late", she murmured.
"Relax, Lorna", said Alex, from where he sat on a bench, watching her pace, "if he wanted this meeting, he wouldn't just not show up, now, would he?"
"I guess", said Lorna, tucking a strand of green hair behind her ears, "I still don't know what to say to him"
"How about 'hi, Birth Father!'", said Alex, giving a cheery wave. (1)
Lorna looked at him flatly.
"…I knew I should have brought Wild Child"
"Nah, Kyle would shed all over the place and scare off all the wildlife", said Alex with a smirk, "besides, you wanted me here, remember?"
"Why was that again", groaned Lorna, shaking her head.
"Because since Magneto made me a temporary member of his 'white haired super beings' club, I wouldn't be afraid to hit him if need be", said Alex, then paused, "plus, you like my cute butt and fancy hair"
"Have you been reading my diary?", asked Lorna, arching a brow.
"No, Syrin has", said Alex, "she says as long as we're dating, she doesn't mind divulging information to me"
"We're not dating", pointed out Lorna, "we have.. an arrangement" (2)
"My mistake", said Alex with a knowing smile.
The lamppost next to them suddenly get a magnetic shudder.
"That you?", Alex asked, glancing at her.
"No…it's not me", Lorna sighed, "here goes nothing, mmm?"
A grey orb shimmered ahead, before coming to land. With a hiss, the orb opened up and Magneto stepped out.
"Lorna", he smiled, "nice to see you came"
Magneto smirked, noticing her companion,
"And Alex too, it's been a while"
"Not long enough", said Alex, narrowing his eyes.
"Still sore over the whole.. Cauldron incident?", said Magneto, "at the time, you were quite happy to become one of my followers"
"Keep pushing, Bucket-Head", said Alex, his hands glowing, "and you'll see how well I live up to the codename you gave me"
"I doubt that", said Magneto, "not in such a public place. With the trouble you've been having lately, I doubt you could fire a plasma blast without taking down a building with it"
"How do you…", started Alex.
"I know everything, Boy, you should know that", said Magneto, "but I'm not here to discuss such matters, I'm here because my daughter requested it"
"So….I really am your daughter?", asked Lorna.
Magneto inclined his head in her direction.
"Yes, I am, Lorna", he said, "I assumed you wanted this meeting for answers?"
Lorna nodded her head.
"I wouldn't want to talk to you otherwise…you have to admit, you've made quite a notorious name for yourself"
"That I have", sighed Magneto, "most of it, I am afraid, completely deserved. But I'll tell you what you need to know, Lorna"
Over the next hour, Magneto told Lorna of her heritage. He told her how, shortly after his wife, Magda's death, he had an affair with a married woman. It did not last long, and they eventually parted ways after a few harsh words. This was, of course, before Magneto knew the woman had been impregnated with his child. Magneto had nothing to do with any of them for a long time, going back to looking after his infant twins. That was, until a year ago, when he learned that she'd bore his daughter, who was still alive. He learned her mother had died in a plane crash with her husband, Lorna being given over to her mothers husbands sister, who adopted her with her husband, giving her the surname 'Dane'. Magneto had searched high and low for his other child, finally learning she had left the Dane's to live in Dark Hollow as a member of Nightshift. It had been a simple matter of contacting her then. (3)
"…And here we are now", said Magneto.
Lorna frowned, watching him.
"I don't know whether I should believe you", she said quietly.
"It's your choice, Lorna", said Magneto simply, then sighed, heading back to his orb, "I'll let you make your own mind up, whatever that may be. But if you need me…"
A small pen-shaped device floated from his hand, landing in hers.
"You can contact me with this", he said, getting into his orb, pausing to look over his shoulder, "and Havok?"
"What?", asked Alex, narrowing his eyes untrustingly.
"Look after her", said Magneto with a sigh, the orb closing up and floating off with a metallic humm.
"Yeah…like she needs looking after", said Alex, shaking his head, then glanced at Lorna, "you okay?"
"Yes…I…I think so", replied Lorna, blinking up from where she'd been staring at her communicator, "well…I guess I know now, right?"
"Yeah", smiled Alex, then grinned, "now lets go eat, please. I could murder a pizza right now"
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Elsewhere in New York, Doug Ramsey was returning back to the dorm room he shared with Warlock. He smiled slightly at the thought of his boyfriend. Sure, the guy was easily freaked, as well as easily confused, but otherwise he was such a gentle soul. He saw good in everybody, and Doug had never heard him say a cruel word about anybody. He seemed too good to be true, Doug just considered himself to have lucked out, big time. He opened to door, stepping inside with a grin.
"I'm back", he said, "If I have to look at anymore ancient Latin, I may scre…"
He trailed off, noticing a girl of around five sitting on Warlock's bed cross-legged. In front of her was a coluring book, in which she was colouring in a picture of a dirt bike, with surprising neatness.
"Hello?", he tried.
"Hello", smiled Imara, looking up "I'm visiting my big brother. Mamma dropped me off because she needed her hedgehog hair fixed to stop Daddy from wincing at it"
"Oh….err…hi", said Doug as the girl blinked at him, "I'm Doug"
A smirk crossed Imara's face. The sort of smirk a sibling made when they found possible blackmail material over another sibling.
"Oh, you're Doug".
"Yeah", said Doug, feeling slightly nervous, "…where is Warlock…exactly?"
"Oh he went to the kitchen to get me some milk", replied Imara, then added matter-of-factly, "Milk has calcium, which gives you strong bones, you know. If I drink it regularly, I'll grow much faster and better"
"Is that a fact?", chuckled Doug, "you're quite smart of a kid"
"My Daddy's a genius", said Imara with a sniff, "it's genetic"
"Oh….right", Doug blinked, then looked over at her picture, "a dirt bike, huh?"
"Yup", said Imara, "I want one, but Mamma and Daddy say I have to wait until I'm old enough. I told them I'm old enough now, but they won't listen"
It was then Warlock reappeared, carrying a glass of milk. He smiled as he noticed Doug.
"Oh, I see you've met my sister", he said, then paused, "errr…a couple of times removed"
"Try a couple of species removed", muttered Imara under her breath .(4)
Warlock arched a brow at her, giving her the glass.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing", said Imara with a sweet smile, "I love my big brother"
"I'm not getting a dirt bike for myself so you can ride it on weekends", said Warlock pointedly.
"Awwww, how do you do that?", whined Imara.
"Magic", said Warlock.
"You're not magical!", said Imara, wrinkling her nose, "you're extra-terrestrial"
"What?", asked Doug, blinking at the pair.
Imara gave an evil grin
"You don't know Warlock's an ali.."
Warlock squeaked, quickly covering his sisters mouth with his hand.
"That's enough sugar for you", he said, then looked at Doug with a nervous laugh, "kids, huh?"
"It makes me glad I'm an only child", said Doug, then sighed, looking at the clock, "I'd better be going to the computer lab, they want me to redesign part of the college website..again"
He smiled, nodding at Imara.
"It was nice meeting you", he said, then gave Warlock a quick peck on the cheeks, "see you later"
"Goodbye", said Warlock, watching him leave with a goofy smile.
"Woooooohhooooo", giggled Imara, then blinked as her brother narrowed his eyes at her, "arrrrrghhhh!"
She leapt from his arms, deciding to dash to the other end of the room. Warlock made a desperate leap, managing to rugby-tackle Imara into his arms. Imara simply opened her mouth and licked his arm with a 'glah' noise, causing Warlock to let her go.(5)
"Eeew!"
"You can't catch me, you can't catch me!", laughed Imara, bouncing up and down on Doug's bed.
Warlock rolled his eyes, extending his arm and simply plucking her up, mid-bounce.
"Awww, no fair!", said Imara, "you cheated!"
"No, I did not", smirked Warlock, then looked at her with a sigh, "You really shouldn't tell everyone what I am".
"Why?", asked Imara, "it's cool"
Warlock brought her back to sit next to him on his bed.
"You remember seeing E.T?", he asked, "when the government took E.T away and locked him up?"
"Yeah", Imara scrunched up her face, "that was horrible. He went all grey and weird and was nearly dead"
"Yes, yes it was", said Warlock, frankly, that movie still gave him nightmares, "well, that's why you can't tell everyone. You wouldn't want that to happen to me, would you?"
Imara's eyes widened.
"Oh no, no, no, no", she said, clinging to her brother's neck, "never ever, ever"
"Good, keep that in mind", said Warlock.
Imara smirked at her 'brother'.
"So, you like Dougie, do you?"
"Doug", said Warlock, "and yes, I do"
"You're gonna have to tell him eventually, you know", said Imara, then looked at him pointedly, "you're kinda obvious, you know"
"Oh gee, thanks", said Warlock, "and I'll tell him…eventually"
"I bet he finds out on his own", said Imara, then grinned, "I bet you a dirt bike he does!"
Warlock sighed, shaking his head.
"Drink your milk, Imara"
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(1) – A Phoebeism from Friends
(2) – From My Girl 2, if memory serves.
(3) – This is pretty much cannon, though changed here and there to fit Evolution continuity.
(4) – From Dinosaur, tee hee, you gotta love Imara.
(5) – A scene from Lilo and Stitch, it make me laugh every time.
And there is another chapter done and dusted. In the next chapter, the story really kicks into high gear, and how! Do review. Until next time…