Toad sat down in the pilot's seat and pulled on the helmet. He told Emily to sit in the seat beside him. That left Pyro to sit alone in the back. Emily seemed interested in everything and started to ask what all the buttons did. Toad put the auto-pilot on so that he could safely answer her. He didn't know why, but he felt that there was something wrong about bringing an eight-year-old to the island.
He smiled as she asked another question. He figured that at least Dime would have a playmate.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Toad expertly landed the 'copter in it's hanger, just like he had so many times before. Emily had stopped asking questions when they had come up to the island. She seemed to be amazed at everything.
Toad lead Emily out of the helicopter into the hanger. Magneto was standing there, looking past Toad at the girl. Emily had hidden behind Toad upon seeing Magneto. She peeked out from behind Toad's legs when he placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"This is the girl?" Magneto asked. Toad nodded quickly. Magneto walked up to Toad and looked him straight in the eyes before kneeling down to look at Emily.
"Are you a bad man?" Emily asked quietly. Magneto smiled.
"No. I am a mutant just like you. I am trying to help our kind survive." Magneto said slowly. Emily came out from behind Toad's legs to get a better look at Magneto. She walked up to him and looked at Magneto's hair.
"Are you my grand-dad?" She asked curiously. She touched his silver hair as he laughed quietly. Toad couldn't help but smile. He wondered what Magneto would say.
"Do you want me to be?" Magneto asked her. Emily lowered her hand and looked at him. She looked confused.
"I dunno, only if you really are." She said sheepishly. Toad couldn't help but smile. Magneto smiled and stood up. He looked at Toad and his smile disappeared.
"Find her a room. Then show her around." Magneto ordered before turning and stalking away. Toad watched Magneto leave before turning his attention to Emily. She was looking up at him expectantly. Toad quickly thought of all the rooms near his that were empty.
"Can we go get something to eat?" Emily asked. Toad nodded, motioning for her to follow. She grabbed his hand and followed him eagerly.
Toad led her down hallways. He occasionally pointed to a door and explained what was in the room, or whose room it was. Emily never seemed to run out of questions.
The came to a dark hallway and he paused to tell her about it. A shiver ran up his spine as he thought of the people who inhabited the hallway.
"What's the matter?" Emily asked quietly. She apparently had realized the fact that this was a hallway to be careful around. And for good reason too, the lights lining the hallway were dimmed and there were scratches lining the walls.
"Never go down this hallway." Toad said quietly.
"Why? Who's down there?" She asked.
"The Torture Twins." Toad replied. "C'mon." Toad started leading her away when one of the doors burst open and a figure flew out, hitting the wall opposite and sliding to the floor. Toad pushed Emily behind him and got ready to fight. Emily understood to stay behind him, and did so.
"The figure stood up and turned to the open door, then looked at Toad and Emily. The figure started to walk towards them slowly.
"We didn' do nothin' Luke. You know tha' so back off." Toad said. The figure, Luke, paused momentarily.
"I am not allowed to greet the newcomer? Surely that isn't against the rules." Luke said. His voice was smooth, unwavering. Like greasy ice.
"No. She don' need t'know you." Toad growled. Luke had started walking forward again. Emily was shivering.
"Make him go away." Emily whispered. She was gripping the bottom of Toad's shirt.
"Back off Luke." Toad growled.
"Yes Luke, back off." A new voice said. Luke immediately stopped and looked back. There was a figure in the open doorway. The figure looked like a lady.
"Back off Luke. Leave the girl alone." The lady ordered. Luke didn't move.
"I would not harm the girl. She is an innocent. Toad, however, is another story." Luke said. Toad started backing away.
"The girl needs her father, despite the number of times he has evaded us." The lady said. Luke growled and stalked backwards. He went into another room. Toad let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"Leave now before I change my mind." The lady said as she entered her room and slammed the door behind her. Toad picked Emily up and ran down a series of hallways, stopping only when they entered the kitchen. His heart was beating fast and sweat was beading on his forehead. Emily was shaking, even though she had never met the two before.
"Who was that?" Emily asked as Toad put her down. He slumped down against the wall and started shivering. Toad had never liked those two, they gave him the creeps. The two rarely left their hallway. No one went into their hallway either, unless they were in trouble. Even Sabertooth tried to avoid the hallway. Only Magneto could safely go into the hallway without getting creeped out.
"Those were the torture twins. Luke an' Siva." Toad said. Emily came and sat down in his lap and started crying into his shoulder. Toad tried to comfort her. They sat there for five minutes until Emily calmed down and fell asleep in his arms. Toad didn't know what to do, so he just sat there with her in his lap.
Mystique walked into the room and at first didn't notice the two there. When she did notice them she grinned and walked over to him. She sat down beside him and touched his shoulder with her hand. He shivered at her touch but did nothing else.
"So this is her?" Mystique asked quietly. Toad didn't ask how she knew. Dime had probably picked the lock on his door (again) and read his email. Then she would have told everyone and their dog.
"When'd you ge' 'ere?" Toad asked.
"Just a few minutes ago. I flew Kelly's chopper here, figured you'd like to play with it." Mystique said. She reached over and moved a piece of Emily's brown hair away from her eyes. Toad felt a surge of love for both Emily and Mystique.
"Wha' am I gonna do 'stique?" Toad asked her quietly. He was looking down at Emily's small face. She was clutching at the fabric of his shirt as she slept.
"What do you mean?" Mystique asked. She had a look of confusion mixed with worry on her face. Toad sighed.
"I can' raise a bleedin' kid! I can barely take care of meself!" He whispered. He felt an unfamiliar surge of fear surface and he didn't like it. Mystique grinned at him.
"You're not alone, you know. You're surrounded by people that'll help you. All you need to do is ask." And with that Mystique left to let Toad contemplate her words in silence.
Emily's eye's opened and she looked up to him. She had a smile on her face. Toad looked down at her and smiled back.
"Now 'ow abou' tha' food?" He asked. Her grin widened and she nodded. Toad stood up, bringing her up into his arms, and carrying her to the counter. He sat her down on the counter and grinned.
"Wha' would yeh like?" Toad asked her nervously. She looked surprised that he asked her but happy at the same time.
"Bacon and eggs!" Emily said. Her tail unwound from her waist and started swishing back and forth behind her. Toad smiled. Bacon and eggs was his specialty.
"'Ow many d'you wan'?" Toad asked as he went into the fridge.
"Hmm… Seven!" Emily said with a wide grin. Toad smiled and grabbed the box of eggs and put them on the counter beside Emily. He opened some of the cupboards and went for a pan.
" 'ow 'bout we start a' three an' work up from there?" He asked. She nodded her head quickly while he continued looking for a pan. He stood up quickly when there was a crash outside the door. He ran over to Emily and prepared himself for anything. Sounds of fighting came from outside the door and Toad felt Emily's hand clutch his arm. He reached back and touched her knee.
They stood there, waiting for the fight they could hear just outside the door to enter the kitchen. Soon enough, there was a thump saying someone had been beaten. Toad chided himself for not setting up the security system. He silently vowed that, should he survive the coming fight, he'd start setting it up.
The door burst open to reveal Wolverine. Toad glanced down to Wolverine's knuckles and the fact that his claws weren't extended.
"Back away from the girl, Toad." Wolverine said as he pointed at Toad. Toad gulped and shook his head. Emily kissed the back of Toad's head quickly. Wolverine looked confused for a few seconds, but quickly went back to angry.
"Don't make me hurt you." Wolverine said. His claws appeared from his hands. Toad felt Emily jump.
"I'm no' afraid o'you." Toad said. He went into his fighting stance, getting ready for Wolverine to attack. Toad took two small steps forward and two steps to the side, putting a little distance between Emily and him. The last thing he wanted was for Wolverine to miss and hit her.
"Daddy!" Emily shrieked. Toad whipped around and saw Nightcrawler standing in front of Emily. He was trying to get a hold of her but she wasn't letting him. Toad whipped around and punched Nightcrawler in the side of his head, causing the elf to stumble and give Toad enough time to grab Emily.
"Vhat? Wolverine I refuse to separate a child from zhere parent. Despite whom zah parent is." Nightcrawler said. Toad's heart was racing as he held Emily in his arms. Wolverine growled as Toad placed a shaking Emily on the ground. He turned to face Wolverine, and Emily started cry8ing. Toad didn't know what to do. AT that moment Wolverine charged, and Emily screamed. Toad grabbed Emily and jumped over Wolverine and ran out the door, only to meet up with Cyclops. Cyclops punched Toad square in the forehead, knocking him out instantly.