Lina winced as she and Cover Girl walked back into the stockade and heard the sounds of arguing. It cut out as Althea walked out. Lina exchanged a look with Althea. Althea just shook her head. Lina bit her lip and walked into Amira's cell.
"I guess you heard." Amira muttered as she stared at the wall.
"I heard." Lina said sadly. "Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Amira exhaled and shook her head.
"No." Amira shook her head. "I will not serve here."
"But this isn't about service." Lina told her. "It's about pulling together to help each other. Including you."
"Everyone around me dies…" Amira's eyes flashed. "Vlad, the Omegas, my family—everyone…except the people who deserve it most."
"It doesn't have to be that way." Lina urged. "You don't have to be alone again."
"We could be your family…" Cover Girl started to stay when Amira whirled on her, her eyes steely with rage.
"My family is DEAD. You can never replace them." Amira hissed furiously, enraged at the very implication.
"I never meant that we would—or even could—replace them," Cover Girl explained, mentally wincing as she belatedly realized that Amira came from a culture where family values were much more intense than they were here. "But—" Amira cut Cover Girl off.
"If you're precious charges lost or renounced their families, fine. That's their business." Amira raised her head defiantly. "But I would never stoop so low as to pathetically cling to you and pretend that you're a family. Because you are not—and could never be—my family."
"Now wait just a—" Cover Girl started to interject.
And even if they could be replaced," Amira raised her voice to cut off Cover Girl's attempted reply. "It would never be by the people who made and sold the weapons that killed them." Amira finished coldly, glaring daggers at her. Silence crashed down.
"That's unfair." Althea protested growing agitated at the perceived attack on the people she grew up with. Amira shifted gears slightly.
"You grew up here, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't see it." Amira sighed. "This isn't just some place you live and get to blow stuff up—"
"It isn't?" Cover Girl asked wryly.
"This is an American military base." Amira stressed. "I don't know what that means to you, but I know what it means to me. And I promise you those two views have nothing in common. Being a Misfit would mean, in essence, becoming part of that military. I wont do it. I cannot, will not, be a part of that. Not after what happened to my people…my parents…to Vlad's father…never." She swore.
"None of that has anything to do with GI Joe!" Althea protested hotly. Amira looked at her pityingly.
"GI Joe—eccentricities aside—is a military unit. What happens when they're ordered to take part in a mutant round up? Or get shipped off to the Middle East?" Amira asked. Althea and Lina traded a look and were honest enough to admit that they couldn't really know. "I thought as much." Amira sighed. "That's why I can't be a Misfit." For a moment she looked regretful. "I'm sorry Lina. Althea. I would've liked to stay with you, but I can't. I just can't."
Is it worth being alove just so you can be bitter?" Lina asked.
"Being bitter reminds me I'm alive. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't let Naomi be raised here. Not now, not ever." Amira replied. Althea and Lina looked like they wanted to argue further but Cover Girl but a hand on their shoulders and gently led them out.
"Come on girls, I don't think you're going to change her mind." She told them. "But there's still one last option to consider."
&&&&&&&
One Day Later
Amira sat ramrod straight in between two armed Green Shirts in the back seat of a military jeep as it pulled up to its destination. She hardly noticed. Once again, she found her old life falling apart all around her. She was bustled out of the Pit early one morning with what few possessions they had allowed her to recover from the late Hellions' base: some clothes, books, and few other possessions. Amira cried for an hour as she went through Vlad's things and packed them up. Althea and Lina helped. Most of Vlad's stuff was being kept in storage at the Pit, under Althea's care. It seemed only right.
But Amira resigned herself to prison or at some point, deportation which was probably where she was being taken now. Naomi sat on her lap, too young to really understand everything that was going on. All she knew was that she was going for a ride.
The doors opened and the guard to her left got out. "Please exit the vehicle." He intoned. Amira let Naomi get out first, she probably needed to stretch her legs. Then Amira stepped out. She blinked as she saw where it was she was taken to: a large, estate like mansion that looked oddly familiar.
Amira blinked as she saw the Misfits and X-Men standing out in front. "Miss al-Batani? Allow me to welcome you to the Xavier Institution." Professor Xavier said as extended his hand to her. She just stared at it as if she'd never seen the like of it before. "We hope you'll be happy here."
Amira looked over at Althea and Lina, who were smiling her. She gave a weak smile back, the first one she'd had since Vlad died. She took the Professor's hand and shook it.
"I might be." She said softly. "I just might be."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
THE END
A/N: Wow, I can't believe how long this took! I want to thank all my reviewers and especially Red Witch and RogueFanKC for all their support and help. You guys rock!
The X-Men are © to Marvel, GI Joe is © to whoever, the Misfits are © to Red Witch.