Initiative 2028
Brotherhood
The Irene Alder School for the Gifted was in the New York area, ironically based out of the former Massachusetts Academy run by the Hellfire Club. The property had fallen into disuse after the Academy was closed, so they bough it up and made repairs.
The helicopter descended smoothly, then landed in a field in front of the school. The blond haired woman climbed out, looking around, then headed towards the building. Unlike the various versions of Xavier's School it looked very, very normal on the outside, while hiding a sanctuary for mutants within.
Raven Darkholme smiled warmly as Val walked up, offering her hand as the black haired woman said, "Good to see you, Val."
"You too," Val smiled as they headed inside. "Why are you in disguise?" she asked as they walked down the hall to her office.
Raven shimmered, hair going a dark red as her skin turned blue. "Better?" she asked as she opened a door and waved her in.
"It's a bit odd seeing you as Raven, considering you dropped that identity back in the day," Val shrugged slightly.
"A bit odd for me too," Raven admitted as she waved Val to a seat and sat down at her desk.
Te two women had a history, which sometimes made things uncomfortable between them. Raven had worked with Val in government service, and they became close. But Raven was really Mystique, and had been undercover infiltrating the agency. Eventually, after a few years, Val found out and was less than pleased to find out her friend and confidante was a lie.
Raven, of course, protested that the friendship had been real, even if the identity she had created was not. In the years since they had gradually rebuilt the relationship, but it had taken a lot of time and effort on both their parts.
"How's the California situation?" Raven asked curiously.
Val made a face. "Scott is still doing well as the Governor, actually," she admitted, "he and the X-Men pretty much run the state, now. I think President Richards is waiting until the next election to try to oust him."
"Good luck with that," Raven snorted, "he's drawn a lot of the mutant population out there and they all vote for him."
"Other than your faction," Val noted with a impish smile. "And you've drawn away a few from California too."
"Any problems with Frenzy joining us?" Val asked curiously. The former Alcolyte and X-Men had joined her school a few weeks ago, having had enough of Xaviers.
"She got pardoned a few years back, I don't see any problems," Val shook her head. "President Richards will want a report on the inside of the X-Men teams..."
"I'll ask, but I won't force her," Raven said firmly. "If you don't like it, tough."
Val shrugged, "Fair enough."
"You took that well," Raven noted, amused.
"I told Richards you'd probably say that. You're loyal to your people," Val said dryly.
"Thank you," Raven nodded. She looked troubled, "How is Velocidad?"
Val looked uncomfortable. "We've got him in cryonics at Dreamland for now. We can't shut down his time manipulation and he's going to die otherwise."
"Ugh," Raven grimaced. Velocidad was another X-Man defector, a young man who used his time manipulating abilities to fake superspeed. But while you could do that for awhile, the years of added time had caught up with him, and he was dying of old age. Unable to help, Raven had passed him on to experts at the government.
"I know we hoped for better," Val said sympathetically.
"I was shocked to see that wizzened old man on my doorstep and discover he was barely thirty or so." Raven sighed.
There was a knock on the door and a attractive, brown haired woman stuck her head inside, looking around. "Headmaster, I..." she started then looked sheepish, "Sorry, I didn't realize Director Cooper was here."
"Martinique," Val nodded, recognizing the former supervillain Lady Mastermind. She was the school's primary telepath, as well as using her illusions when needed.
"You knew, but I'll let that pass," Raven looked amused at her habitual lying. "What's the situation?" she asked.
"Toad is having a freak out again," Martinique said apologetically, "Husk is with him, so that helps, but I wanted to get permission before knocking him out."
"Do it," Raven sighed, "but try to be gentle."
"Got it," Martinique nodded and left.
"Toad?" Val asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah, he's another refugee from the X-Men. He's tried various procedures to enhance his powers over the years," Raven explained with a sigh, "a lot of it experimental. It finally caught up with him, and he's having neurological issues."
"You're becoming a home for damaged mutants," Val noted dryly.
"It's not THAT bad. And I took Toad in because he was a former teammate," Raven said a bit defensively.
"Right," Val drawled. Deciding it was probably not a good idea to needle her on that she continued, "President Richards also wanted me to personally thank you for lending the Brotherhood to the Iraq mission."
"The hostage rescue went off as planned then," Raven nodded.
"Well, mostly. Crimson Commando obeyed orders and didn't kill the terrorists, but her and her team maimed a lot of them," Val noted.
"She's called CRIMSON for a reason," Raven noted dryly. "I warned you before deploting the team," she shrugged.
"Well, the Commando, Savage, Reaper and Polaris got the job done," Val nodded. "Kidnappers downed, hostages freed and even minimal property damage. Good job."
"I'll pass it on to the team," Raven nodded. She added, "Crimson actually is teaching a gym class right now, too..."
Val blinked, "They teach classes?"
Raven looked amused at that. "We have over a hundred students, I need all the teachers I can get. Besides, I think she enjoys it."
"Sorry," Val apologized, "for some reason I imagined you had your students in variations of combat training all the time."
"That would be the X-Men's usual route," Raven shook her head. "We have the regulation ciriculum going, though I substitute alternate gym classes with powers training."
"You must be very proud," Val noted.
Raven waved that off, "It's something I think had needed to be done for awhile. We're too busy fighting wars over philosophy to take proper care of the kids caught in the middle."
Val had often wondered about Raven. As Mystique she had done some very questionable things for reasons that weren't clear. But right then, she spoke with such passion, such intensity...
"I'm glad we've been able to help," Val said sincerely.
"Me too," Raven smiled at her warmly.
Val checked her watch, then tapped the face meaningfully. Raven grinned and pressed a buttin on her desk as both women visibly relaxed.
"Sorry about my being bugged," Val shook her head ruefully. "Is that a new scrambler?" she asked just a bit worriedly.
"Yeah, President Richards complained she picked up some of what we were doing last time," Raven noted as she bodilly reached across the desk and pulled Val into a kiss.
"Hmm, poor thing," Val laughed as Raven nibbled her neck.
It was a frankly hilarious, the situation the two women were in. The two were suspected by two members of President Richards' cabal, Stane and Gyrich. They INSISTED Val be monitored on her meetings with Raven. Richards herself trusted Val and Raven, and had suggested the scrambler so they could have some 'alone time.'
"I have no problems with you having a relationship," President Richards had said, looking her age for once as the younger woman noted, "But I do NOT want to hear you having wild sex. Use a scrambler so I don't have to hear it."
"We really should do this somewhere more comfy," Raven noted even as she undit Val's blouse.
"We have less than half a hour before I have to get out of here," Val said, "less talking, more undressing."
"Yes ma'am," Raven laughed.
To be continued...
Note: Haven't had much femslash in the series for a bit, so here ya go.
