Magneto was most displeased. Ivoire had contacted him once he had realized that something was amiss with the home of that incompetant, Vapid. He strode angrily through the hallway, sidestepping a dog's blood, lost in his own thoughts. Mystique was with him, as well as the two teens. Vapid thought of telling Magneto about his missing journal, then decided it wasn't that important.
"Fabric missing, only to be found in the basement, a covering plank for the pit misarranged, and the last live dog, gone."
The elderly man turned to the two cousins.
"I certainly hope, for all our sakes, that you both find out who did this," he said.
Ivoire swallowed a scowl, knowing that is was only for he and Matt's sake that they had to find the housebreakers. Mystique had already informed both of them that they were dispensable. Magneto did not need links in Canada; once he had dealt with the US, all the other countries would surely follow. But Ivoire also knew that if Magneto failed, the next target he had in mind was their own, more northern country.
"I will find out directly, sir," Scott nodded, keeping his eyes down, "I mean, we will find out who broke in, sir."
"We will," Matt echoed, adding a belated, "Sir."
"Good," Magneto smiled, suddenly cheerful, as he turned towards the door, "We'll be seeing you in another week or so. By the way," Magneto looked over his shoulder, his hand on the doorknob, "The world leaders are soon meeting together. Just another month or two, and our plan will be under way."
Scott pasted on a smile, "That's wonderful, sir."
Scott waited until he had heard the two older mutants drive away before he rounded on Matt, punching him hard in the stomach.
"How could you let that happen?" he hissed, as if afraid that Magneto might still be in hearing range.
"Ow...easy on my tummy," Matt wheezed, rubbing where he had been hit.
"I don't care!" Scott growled into his face, "Focus, Matt! There are other mutants out there, cuz, and not all of them are on our side! You remember what kind of choice Magneto said they made?"
"The stupid choice," Matt mumbled. He was very upset that Scott had punched him; he was trying the best he could.
"Do you remember why their choice was stupid? Well? Do you?" Scott was yelling now, cuffing Matt on the side of his head.
"Because they think there'll be peace. That mutants and humans can get along," Matt answered half-heartedly.
"Exactly," Scott said, his voice at a normal level now, "Remember Chris, your sister? She's one of them too, and now she's shipped off to some boarding school, because your mom had to hide her. That's what you getting for trying to find peace with humans. I'm going upstairs. Try not to mess something else up while I'm there."
Matt dragged his feet to his room, and sat down on his bed.
"I may not know much," he whispered to himself, "But I know there's a chance. I'm friends with Hannah, and she's not a mutant." Matt paused, then realized that that did not count. She did not know about his mutation. "Should I tell her?" Matt thought for a little longer, then shook his head, "No. Not her. If she doesn't understand, then I'm in big trouble." Matt thought carefully again; surely there must be someone he could tell. Then he could prove to Scott and Magneto that there could be peace. And maybe he could get his sister back somehow.
(Meanwhile, in the Gilpo household)
"Mike, c'mere," Michelle beckoned as she sat at her computer.
It was 9 o'clock, and both morphers had had a brush with luck. Michelle's parents still had not arrived yet, and Nat had promised not to tell them that the teens were late. Michelle loved her Dragon-child. Nat also did not ask about Sagitar. Rather, he just enjoyed playing with the puppy after his questioning look was left unanswered, and decided to let his sister handle things. Now, Michelle was on the internet, changed into pyjamas, and waiting for her parents and cousin to come home. Mike looked up from playing with Sagitar, and smiled.
"Why? Have you discovered a site that can finish my English homework?"
"No such luck," Michelle answered, glancing fondly at her brother. Always a morning person, Nat had fallen asleep on the couch, "Everyone's online. Gordon wants to set up a spying schedule."
"Ok," Mike got up, carrying Sagitar, and placed the puppy on the computer desk.
"You stay there," Michelle said, pushing Sagitar into a sitting position in front of the printer, "And you can sit there," she added, gesturing towards the chair she had already placed beside her.
"What? Don't want to share?" Mike said innocently, seating himself comfortably.
"Oh, please," Michelle rolled her eyes, pushing Mike's head away and setting up a joined MSN conversation window.
"You know you want to," Mike grinned, putting an arm on the back of Michelle's chair.
"Here, I'll sign you onto Windows Messenger so that I don't have to type for you," Michelle said, as if she hadn't heard Mike's last comment.
"...hey," Mike said after a moment, "How come you know my password?"
"Ok, now we're all in the same conversation," Michelle said hurriedly, typing into the text box.
"Hi," typed Violet Baudelaire, who was really Michelle.
"Wow, the convo's so big..." typed Oh, so sleepy, who was Holly.
"No s(bleep), sherlock," Dude Almighty/Adam typed.
"Dont tak 2 her like that," Monty Python forever! typed. Good ol' Geordie and his obsession.
"dude, learn to typ. i mean tpe. TYPE!" Phl: Cheer up, Emo kid! (who was of course Phil) typed.
"wher's melisa?" messaged Uganda-boy triumphs again, who, naturally, was Mike.
"I'm in cyberspace! oooooooo!" typed Melissa, who was also I will fight to the death for the half-mark.
"ya, there she is," typed NOOOOOO!, who was Gordon, "now, who wants 1st shift on matt?"
"...give him a secund b4 he realizes..." Geordie typed.
"NOOOOOOO! DON'T TAKE IT THAT WAY!" Gordon typed.
"aw...:( why not?" Holly typed.
"X-P You need a bf," Michelle typed.
"speaking of which, are you and mike official yet?" Adam asked.
"..." Michelle typed.
"ask her out and get it over with, mike. you know you want to," Phil typed.
"Does this mean I get first shift with Matt?" Melissa typed.
"Ur the 1st 1 2 say, so i guess so," Gordon typed.
"kk. im making a spredsheet as we type," Geordie typed.
"Spell my name right. It's M-E-L-I-S-S-A."
"the shift lasts for how long?" Mike asked.
"good question," Gordon typed, "How long should they last?"
"How about 2 ppl for the whole day, then we switch every day?" Michelle typed.
"Sounds good," Holly typed, "I'll pair up with Melissa."
"hey Gordon, wanna b my partner?" Geordie typed.
"k."
"I'll work with Mike," Michelle typed.
"then adam and i are together. again." Phil typed.
"would you rather be with Mike?" Adam typed.
"can i?"
"no," typed Mike.
"jerk! and jerkette! P," typed Phil.
"aw...I need a band-aid (:)" Michelle typed.
"Look, it's Marge Simpson! ((((((((((8)" Holly typed.
"ppl, focus. Ok, the order is Melissa/Holly, Adam/Phil, Gordon/Geordie, and Michelle/Mike, starting 2morrow, ok?" Gordon typed.
"wait...what about for Scott?" Adam typed.
"how about in reverse order? m/m, then g/g, then a/p, then m/h?" Phil suggested.
"Sounds good," Holly typed.
"yeah, i think so too," Michelle typed.
"yeah, goerdie, use that," Gordon typed.
"should that include weekends?" Mike typed.
"that'd probably b best," Holly typed.
"ill set the schedule up on my blog," Geordie typed.
"Ok. Now I've got homework to do," Melissa typed, then signed off.
"my mom wants me off the computer...:(" Adam typed, before leaving the window.
"gordon, think you could help me with my math homework?" Phil typed.
"sure. ill open another window," Gordon typed, and he and Phil left the conversation.
"speaking of hw, we need to fix up that dialogue we're writing," Holly typed.
"o no. the comp is randomly shutting down..." Geordie typed.
"don't you dare," Holly typed.
"Yeah, u should probably work on that," Michelle typed.
"hypocrit," Geordie typed.
"dont get her mad. she'll sic her friends on u," Mike typed.
"fine. but only 4 half and hour," Geordie typed, and he and Holly left the conversation.
"And then there were two," Michelle typed.
"Hm...does the room seem a lot smaller to u?" Mike typed.
"No...just emptier," Michelle typed.
"Um...we're in the same room."
"Right. Why're we typing?"
"Ok, stop!" Michelle pushed Mike's hands away from the keyboard, before he could type an answer.
Mike laughed, "Maybe you should turn the computer off," he suggested.
"I'm way ahead of you," Michelle said, already doing so.
Looking over, both saw that Sagitar was napping, as puppies were apt to do. Michelle gave her a gentle pat, then walked quietly to her brother.
"Hey. Hey, kid," Michelle said quietly, gently shaking the 9-year-old.
"Nngh...?" Nat looked up at his sister blearily.
"You may as well go to bed, Dragon-child."
"'Kay, até," Nat said, calling Michelle 'big sister' in Tagalog. He stumbled up somehow and managed to get to his room without any help.
"He's ok," Mike said, seeing Michelle watch after her brother.
"I know. Just making sure he doesn't trip over something," Michelle said. She turned to Mike, and caught him staring at her, "What?"
"Nothing," Mike said, shaking his head. He walked to the computer desk and scooped up Sagitar, who was still dozing, "Let's take Sadge to your room for now. We can tell your parents about her tomorrow."
"Ok," Michelle said, "I'll get a box for her."
Walking downstairs, Michelle's head was elsewhere. What was that look...? Michelle shook her head, Whatever. That's not important right now. But the gentle look in Mike's eyes kept coming back to her. He really is a sweet boy. No! Focus on school and the mission. Holding a box that she had chosen, Michelle realised that she was staring dreamily into space. Ok, so I like him. But still...I'm not even entirely sure if he really likes me. What if he turns out like Adam? But Michelle knew, even while she was thinking it, that this was not the case.
Walking back up the stairs, Michelle made a slight detour to the closet where her family kept all the blankets, and choose an old, worn-out one for Sagitar's box. Arranging the blanket, she took what was now Sagitar's bed into her room, and found Mike sitting on the bed, waiting for her. Carefully, he placed the puppy in the box, and Michelle put it close to the bed, where she would not step on it.
"There," Michelle sighed, sitting down on the bed beside Mike, "My parents don't check on me, so they won't find her until tomorrow. If then."
"So we're done, then?" Mike asked.
"Yeah," Michelle said, stifling a yawn.
"Aw...you're so cute..." Mike teased, "Your tongue lifts up when you yawn."
"Shut up," Michelle grinned, and closed her eyes, curling up on her bed, "Ok, I'm going to sleep. G'night."
"No, stay awake," Mike said, pulling her back up.
"No," Michelle pretending to lie down again.
"You're staying awake," Mike said, pulling her up a little to hard. Holding her to stop her from falling off the bed, Mike found his arms around Michelle with her head resting against one of his arms.
"You did this on purpose," Michelle accused, looking up at him.
"Maybe," Mike said as innocently as he could, though he was grinning.
"Stop laughing," Michelle smiled, gently shoving his face.
"I'm not," Mike said, facing her again, still grinning.
"Ok, let me up," Michelle said, laughing.
She struggled to sit up, as Mike tried to keep her down. As she kept trying, she realized her face was quite close to Mike's, and let herself lean back down. Mike loosened his hold, and Michelle sat up again. Both teens ended up staring at the floor.
"Um...Shell?"
"Yeah?"
"I, um...I really..."
Both teens looked up and their eyes met. Mike lost what he was going to say.
"I really..." he looked down again, but Michelle kept watching him, "I'm...really glad I get to work you, no! I mean," Mike felt his cheeks flushing, "I'm really glad I get to work with you! With the mission! Not...Oh, gawd..."
Mike looked up at Michelle, expecting her to be annoyed with him. But she wasn't. She was smiling at him. A smile grew on his face as well, and before they knew it, both were laughing, as two friends. Michelle grinned, and leaned on Mike shoulder.
"That was...yeah," Mike said.
"Mm-hm," was her reply.
"What I meant was, I really like you, Michelle."
"I know."
Michelle burst out giggling again at the look on his face.
"Well, I didn't know, but...you know how it is."
"So you just like seeing me suffer. Is that it?"
"Well...a little..." Michelle made as small gesture with two fingers, "Oh, come on. You're cute when you're embarrassed."
Mike covered his face with his hands and sighed as Michelle giggled again. Throwing her arms around him, she gave him a hug, and a peck on the cheek.
"I really like you too, Mike," she said, softly.
Their eyes met again, and Michelle saw the same gentleness in Mike's eyes that made her heart ache. Putting a hand on her cheek, Mike asked quietly, "Be my girlfriend?"
"Depends."
"What!"
"Relax. Are you just asking me because Phil told you to, or do you mean it?"
"I mean it. I really do," Mike's pleading tone changed to a firmer one, "You know that."
"I'm sorry. I wan't sure," Michelle said apolegetically, "You understand, right? Because of what happened last time..."
"Shell," Mike carefully stroked her cheek, "I know. You want someone who you can trust, and who'll respect you. And you deserve it. I'm not saying I'll be perfect, but I just want you to be happy, and maybe I can at least do that. I'm not pressuring you, but...I want to be able to take care of you, and this is the best way I can. Do you understand?"
Michelle felt her heart melting at the look in his eyes. He had won, and she knew it. And she found herself not minding in the slightest bit.
"I understand," Michelle said softly, and flicked a bit of his hair out of his eyes before saying, "And I'd like to be your girlfriend."
Mike looked away, and Michelle grew worried in the silence that followed. Heart pounding, she thought maybe he was teasing her after all.
"Mike, if you're teasing..."
"I'm not," Mike said, voice almost cracking as he looked back at her, "I'm just..."
Leaning forward, he aimed for her lips, but Michelle, who was startled, edged back, so he ended up kissing her chin.
"Gawd!" Mike exclaimed, sitting back up, "Could this get any more awkward!"
Michelle laughed quietly out loud, and Mike joined her, holding her close.
"Ok, now?" Michelle looked up at Mike.
Leaning forward again, this time he didn't miss.
(see, Gordon! I added a new chapter! ...ok, I know you probably didn't care very much for that last part. But too bad!)