Alex had driven to the guest house and they were soon speeding back towards the mansion. Moira took the opportunity to switch into her tactical gear in the back seat, after giving Alex stern instructions to keep his eyes forward.
She was attempting to recall the layout of the mansion when the subject in question rose into sight. Her stomach wrung itself painfully.
"How's your training been going?" Moira asked Alex to distract herself.
"Good, my aim's a lot better than it used to be. I'd feel better with my gear though, but it's back in my room."
"You might not need it - Lehnsherr's probably gone by now anyway."
"Maybe." He agreed cautiously. "Still - better safe than sorry."
"Do you know which room they were in?"
"The Professor was in his study. It's been moved downstairs, few doors down from the right of the staircase."
"We'll take the side entrance then. I'll take point, you can cover my rear - got it?"
"Sure." Alex agreed, critically surveying her in the rear-view mirror. "Are you planning to explain the new get-up at any point here, because I'd definitely remember if you wore that last time."
"I left the CIA," she said, seeing no point in lying, "before they could get rid of me anyway. Joined a new organisation called S.H.I.E.L.D. There's a team in there now." Moira replied, pointing ahead at the mansion. "They were introducing themselves."
"Shie..."
"Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. And yes, I am fully aware it's a ridiculously long name."
"What..."
"S.H.I.E.L.D is an international organisation, overseen by the U.N., which deals with international events." Moira said, cutting his question off again. She had no doubt that the welcome committee did not do things this way but then she wasn't in their team.
"Like the Mutant Division on steroids?" Alex asked warily.
Moira snorted. "Sure, but run by people who actually know what they're doing. And who give their employees dental."
Alex pulled into the side of the lane, car hidden by the wall surrounding the property, and parked the car. They'd make their way up the drive on foot to avoid drawing attention. "And you brought them here?" He accused.
Climbing back into the front to get to the door, Moira huffed at his tone. "They were coming here anyway; in case you didn't pay much attention, the water around Cuba was getting quite a lot of traffic when we were out there."
"But you still told them things about us?" Alex gritted out, looking like he was ready to shout if not for the situation inside. They both shut their car doors as quietly as they could and went around the corner, going over the wall.
"Don't get all high and mighty with me Summers." Moira snapped. "I wouldn't have had to go to S.H.I.E.L.D at all if it weren't for all of you. I would still be at the CIA."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, face scrunching up as they run at a crouch to the side of the building.
"Your Professor wiped my memory and then dumped me back home." Moira hissed under her breath, testing the door handle to ensure the door wasn't locked. It wasn't. "I had to endure months of...do you have any idea how awful it is? Forgetting everything, having to go to people to find out the tiniest pieces of information about my own life. How other agents, how my bosses treated me? At least S.H.I.E.L.D has treated me with respect which is more than I can say for any of you."
Alex looked completely bewildered. "I thought you just left and went back to work. None of us knew, we just thought..." His usual stoic expression slid back into place. "I never thought you would give up our secret, I trusted you. He should have too. But you still shouldn't have brought them here. We've been burned by these kinds of people before."
"And I've been burned twice." Moira retorted, cautiously opening the door. She drew her weapon and Alex clenched his fists as they entered the hallway.
'I know I have little right to ask any favours of you, but if you could find a way to not shoot any of my pupils I would fully appreciate it.' His voice rang throughout every recess of her mind and Moira had to tense to avoid a violent shudder. 'They have no idea that you're here but they are looking for Alex.'
"What should I do?" Alex asked out loud behind her. Moira realised then that he was communicating to them both.
"Go ahead Alex." Moira answered. "If they know where you are they'll stop searching the building and then I might be able to get up behind them."
"But..."
'The front entrance is clear. Move now Alex.' Charles said, backing up her suggestion.
Without any further questions, Alex ran forward.
'Erik doesn't want to harm anyone, I think, he just wanted to see me and try to sway some of my pupils over to his side. However the presence of your friends has made him rather...twitchy.'
Moira ducked into one of the rooms. Its door was already open a small crack and Moira was careful to ease it into the same position in case any of Lehnsherr's people were especially eagle-eyed.
'Stay there for just a few moments, Erik's associates are making their way back now Alex is accounted for. I'll tell you when you're free to move.'
The floorboards squeaked slightly as someone walked past. Peaking through the gap she saw Frost in diamond form.
Deciding it would be difficult to incapacitate her while she was transformed, Moira let her pass by, holding her breath as she did, watching as she went up the hall.
Needlessly checking her weapon again, knowing full well that it was fully loaded, she forced herself to stand still as she waited for the all clear to move. A loud thud almost jolted her from place but she willed herself to stay still. Not yet.
Even several doors away voices could now be heard, not clearly enough to be discerned but enough to indicate that an argument was taking place. Instinct winning out, Moira tentatively moved out from the room and headed for the hallway.
Moving past the staircase a clumsy footstep was her only warning that she was being snuck up behind. Grabbing onto the handrail she vaulted to crouch behind the other side of the stairs, narrowly missing the flaming ball Angel spat in her direction.
"Agent MacTaggert?" Angel said, straightening up as recognition dawned on her. She moved a little closer, blue dress brushing against her knees. "What are you doing here?"
"I was invited. Were you?"
Angel grimaced.
She hesitated for a moment before her lips pursed back to fire again. Moira didn't give her the chance. Springing forward, Moira threw a punch which Angel smartly ducked only to trip as Moira crouched and swung out her leg. This time she had the upper hand and quickly used the butt of her gun to hit the girl across the head.
Glancing around her, Moira tucked her gun back in the holster to drag Angel into an empty room. She brushed aside her hair to check her pulse and, finding her stable, quickly detained her before returning to the hall.
"This is not a negotiation."
Erik. Her hand lifted to her throat before she quickly caught the action. She could hear him clearly now, talking through the door as she hovered cautiously outside.
'Wait for Erik to move, he's blocking the door.'
"Erik." She heard Charles say aloud. "If you would just calm down I can explain why these men are here."
"They're the enemy, Charles."
"They are no one's enemy, especially mine. We were having a perfectly pleasant talk until you showed up."
"A talk?" Erik gritted. "You're honestly going to let them recruit you again. Haven't you learned yet Charles - humans cannot be trusted."
Moira rolled her eyes, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe.
"That's not true, Erik." Charles said calmly. "They've been perfectly open about their intentions, which is more than I can say of you. They're not even armed."
There was a pause.
"You see."
"You've been deceived before." Erik grumbled.
"I've been betrayed by as many mutants as humans, Erik."
Moira's fingers tightened as she heard the floorboards creak near the door. Living in an old mansion certainly had one advantage.
'Don't kill him Moira."
"It was that woman's fault you were shot."
Her face contorted at the accusation.
"Moira," Charles corrected, "is not to blame for what happened to me. A gun wouldn't have been necessary, after all, if you hadn't been trying to kill hundreds of innocent people. And if you recall she was not firing at me."
"Not one man on that beach was innocent."
'Now.'
Raising her foot, Moira kicked the door which slammed into the plaster of the wall. The room turned to her in surprise. Erik was stood directly in front of her, with Frost near Alex and Raven on the other side of the office beside the window, blue with her red hair slicked away from her face. Azazel and Riptide were nowhere in sight.
He lifted a hand to wave the gun from her grasp but it didn't budge. Erik was barely able to register surprise before Moira fired a round into his shoulder, the plastic bullet bringing him crashing to the ground.
Lowering her gun she surged forward as Raven launched at her. Alex and Sean moved quickly to intercept Frost.
"Raven, don't do this." Charles said uselessly, Raven kicking her leg up at Moira's face regardless. She effortlessly dodged it, moving fluidly around the enraged mutant who was almost growling in fury. Hank, who had bent to rip the helmet off Erik's head so Xavier could stop him if necessary, jumped up and wrapped his arms securely around Raven's waist, yanking her away.
"Erik." She cried, looking down at him as he bled across the floor.
Moira looked to see Frost back in her human form, Sean having held a pair of scissors to her fragile neck to force her to change back. Her agents were moving to stabilise Erik.
Abruptly their vision was stunned by an unexpected and sudden cloud of red smoke. Squinting against it, she saw Erik disappear. Frost was the next to go, despite the X-Men crowding in on the remaining Brotherhood members, Azazel moving quickly and effectively to get them all out of the building. Raven flipped back on Hank who hit the wall with a grunt, and finally she was gone too.
The haze seemed to lift as soon as they disappeared, Moira struggling to recall it being so blinding the last time she saw it. "Alex." She said calmly. "I knocked out Angel and locked her in the room by the front door."
"Don't bother, Alex." Charles said as Alex moved towards the door. "They took her too."
He went anyway. "I'm gonna check on everybody, make sure they're all alright."
"They are." Charles said softly as he left.
Moira's attention turned on her people as she felt the weight of the X-Men's gaze fall to her. This was everything she wanted to avoid. "Are you all alright?"
"Yes ma'am." Johnson answered, the team leader. "I presume you're our contact, Agent 24? Only a specialist could have timed that so well."
Nodding in affirmation, she turned at the sound of her name.
"Moira." Sean said, his tone correcting the team. He smiled broadly at her, though his eyebrows were quirked in confusion - evidently another X-Men who didn't know what their Professor had done. "I didn't know you were dropping in on us too."
Hank uncomfortably shuffled his feet, the only one not looking at her. Moira had already come to the conclusion that someone had to help Charles get her out of the mansion and back home. It now seemed she had quite easily identified the culprit. "I'll go downstairs too, make sure Alex doesn't need any help."
"Good." Charles nodded, wheeling his chair forward from around his desk. "I'll be sure to check on them as soon as I can."
Sean turned back to Moira, but Charles cut him off before he could speak. "Sean why don't you go with him. I'll finish up in here."
Turning to look at each other, they carried out a silent conversation before Sean reluctantly left the room.
"I'll talk to you later, Moira."
"Goodbye, Sean." She replied, knowing full well that she was leaving the mansion at the first opportunity.
The door shut behind him with a resounding thud.
XXXXX
Finally getting some X-Men action :D let me know what you think and have a great day!