Author's Note: Too lazy for a real author's note. Sleep is your friend, you know. You should be nice to it and stuff. Uh. Yeah. Like usual, thanks go to Abby, Megan, Kayce, and Paesha for being the awesome people they are and inspiring me with so much random craziness. And, uh, more random comments about flamers being eaten by Paesha's chest. Because it started the Vietnam War and everything. And stuff.
Chapter Three
Charm stretched, leaning back against the driver's seat and resting her arms behind her head. She was very obviously not touching the steering wheel, but she didn't particularly care if anyone saw her car driving itself. Let the humans stare at her for being who she was. And if it meant they avoided her on the road, all the better. She just had more space to defy the speed limit. Her eyes flicked over to the passenger seat, which was currently occupied by Backlash. The black-eyed mutant's short black hair was being ruffled by the wind and the longer strands that framed her face were being blown about, but still her expression remained solemn and serious. Charm wasn't sure she ever seen the other woman smile. And if driving around at ninety miles an hour with the wind blowing through her hair didn't bring a smile, Charm was pretty sure it would never happen.
She stretched again, tilting her head back so she could see Aphedria, who was lounging in the backseat. If Aphedria wasn't so busy being angry at everyone, Charm was sure she'd know how to have a good time. She'd have to try and show her, sometime, as long as Charm was sure Aphedria wouldn't try to kill her. Which she really wasn't. Aphedria didn't hold the same beliefs of treating mutants kindly as Charm did. Aphedria hated mutants almost as much as she hated humans. Charm was pretty sure Aphedria was along the ride only because Magneto actually encouraged her to kill humans. And, of course, he had offered free rooms. That was pretty decent, too.
Charm, though, believed in the things he had said. More than she had believed in anything for quite awhile. Which scared her a little, but also convinced her that this was the place for her. She was pretty sure Backlash agreed with her, too. Backlash had been listening intently to Magneto talking, and then afterwards she had spoken to him privately for quite a few minutes. Then again, though, that really didn't say much. Backlash had pretty much always been the serious, down to business one. Charm was pretty sure most of their biggest heists had been pulled off because of Backlash.
The stealing was something Charm was going to miss, now that they wouldn't have to pay for hotel rooms. Of course, she could probably still do it occasionally. It wasn't like no one would want the money. Her car was slowing down, though, so Charm sat up to look at their surroundings. Pretty soon, they came to a stop in front of a small farmhouse surrounded by empty fields.
"This is it?" Aphedria demanded.
"Magneto said he had dozens of mutants living here." Charm replied. "This can't be it."
"Did your car take us to the wrong place?" Backlash asked.
"My car got us to New York in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. Two days early." Charm said.
"Yes, and then we had to pay for two nights in a hotel." Aphedria said.
"Which I got the money for." Charm returned.
Backlash shook her head. "Come on. Let's knock."
The three of them climbed out of the car and climbed up the old wooden steps. Backlash rapped lightly on the door, and in a few moments the door opened. Pyro stood there, one eyebrow raised and a bit of a smirk on his lips as he looked them over. Backlash stood in front of him, her emotionless black eyes staring into his. Her black hair was cut short, except for the longer strands that framed her face. She was dressed entirely in black leather, with a long sleeved black leather shirt and black leather pants. Her sneakers were black, also, so that the only scrap of color in her outfit was a green belt buckled around her slender waist. She was tall, about an inch taller than him, and it was a little unnerving.
Aphedria flanked her right side, annoyance brimming on the surface of her black eyes. Under that burned an anger that was not likely to ever go out. At least not in this lifetime. Her short hair was black and blue, spiked into rather dangerous looking points. Purple leather clung to her legs, tight enough that it was surprising that she could move as easily as it did. Her tank top was the same color purple and ended an inch or two about her pants, showing a strip of bare skin. She had purple stilettos on her feet, giving her at least an extra five inches of height.
Behind them was Charm, leaning against the railing to the stairs. Her expression mimicked his, except for the fact that her smirk was obviously flirtatious, as was the gleam in her hazel eyes. Reddish-brown hair was streaked with black and gray, then left to pour in wild waves over her bare shoulders. She was wearing a strapless red and black checkered dress, with a hem that stopped halfway down her thighs. Black leather boots started just below her knees and added about two inches to her height. Even with that, though, she was still about four inches shorter than him.
"You guys are the new mutants?" Pyro asked, scorn obvious in his voice.
Aphedria scowled and stepped towards him, but Charm pushed herself off of the railing and moved to intercept her.
"Not this one, hon, he's pretty." Charm told her.
"He won't be, if he keeps running his mouth." Aphedria muttered.
"Where's Magneto?" Backlash asked him, ignoring the other two.
"Not here." Pyro said, flicking his lighter open. Just in case. "I'm Pyro."
"Backlash." She said. "This is Charm and Aphedria."
Charm winked at him, but Aphedria just glared.
Pyro nodded and stepped back, holding the door open for them. "Come on in. I'll take you downstairs."
They followed him inside, then over to the small, rickety staircase. He turned a knob on the railing, and a section of the ground opened up in front of it, revealing a set or sturdy metal stairs leading downward. He lead them silently down, then flicked on the lights. A huge, open room stood before them, light by two giant chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. One door opened into a hallway on the left side of the room, and another on the right.
"Kitchen, training, medical facilities, and entertainment's that way." Pyro said, pointing to the right. "Bedroom's are to the left. Garage is underneath here, your car can go there so it won't raise suspicions parked outside."
"My car can go where ever he wants, hon, he doesn't have to stick around here." Charm replied.
Pyro looked at her. "That's right, you're the mutant that talks to things."
"That's why they call me Charm." She agreed, then grinned. "Well, one of the reasons. Nice place you got here. Fancier than what I'm used to."
"Charm, a motel that only has one broken window is fancier than what you're used to." Aphedria commented, a bit irritated with the other woman's flirting.
Charm shrugged. "True."
"Magneto said we would have full use of the training facilities." Backlash said, looking at Pyro.
"Yeah, he mentioned that. Feel free to use them whenever you want. If someone else is in there, though, you have to work with them." Pyro said. "This way, I'll show you where you're sleeping. Magneto'll come talk to you when he gets back."
They followed him once again. Backlash and Aphedria disappeared into their rooms as they arrived to them, leaving Charm alone with Pyro while he took her to her room.
"Your friends are leaving you alone with a strange mutant in a secret underground liar?" Pyro commented, a slightly wicked glint in his eyes.
"I'm a big girl, sweetie, I can take care of myself." Charm said. "Besides, we only really hang out together because it's convenient."
Pyro chose to ignore her flirting and said, "If you're going to be teaming up with us, you better be doing it for something besides convenience."
Charm laughed. "Don't worry about my loyalties, honey. I wouldn't be here if I believed anything else. There are more important things, you know. Like where your room is."
He glared at her. "Stop calling me nicknames. It's Pyro."
"Don't take it so personal, hon, I do it to everyone." She said.
Pyro shrugged. "I don't care. It's irritating."
She grinned. "I know."
He stopped in front a door. "This is your room."
"Thanks, hon." Charm told him, reaching past him to turn the knob.
He snapped open the lighter almost without realizing it, but he knew his hand was covered with flames when he grabbed her wrist. "I said don't do that."
She looked down at her hand, then met his eyes. "I know a random comment about the double meanings of the word 'hot' would be cliché, but I'm tempted to do it, anyway. Just for you, dear."
Pyro held her gaze, not wanting to be the first one to look away. Finally, Charm glanced back down at her hand. He followed her eyes, and realized that he was holding onto a shimmering layer of red that was now surrounding her arm. Pyro could look through it, enough to see his handprint burned around her wrist.
"I'm sending you the medical bill, Pyro." She told him, then pulled open her door and walked in. She turned around to close the door, but paused for a moment to grin at him. "And I'm expecting a personal escort to the medical facilities later, hon." Charm shut the door in his face before he could answer, leaving him to be sort of glad she didn't know where his room was.
"This sucks. Why are all the cute guys taken?" Rachel muttered.
"Or gay. Some of the cute guys are gay." Samantha added helpfully.
"You're really not helping, you know." Rachel told her.
"What about gay guys?" Zephyr called from the shower.
Rachel and Samantha were standing in the hallway talking, while Zephyr was taking a shower and trying to remain in the conversation. Cassandra had come by earlier to tell them about Bobby and Rogue dating, but she had gone off to look at the track. Anorra was currently in the Danger Room, making her the first one of them to actually participate in it. They were planning on jumping her after she was finished to see what it was like.
"We're still talking about Bobby." Samantha said.
"Wait, Bobby's gay?" Zephyr asked. "I thought he was dating Rogue."
Samantha started laughing, leaning against the wall for support.
"No, Bobby's not gay. Sam's being stupid. Like usual." Rachel said.
"You're just mad because your midnight naked buddy has a girlfriend." Samantha commented.
Rachel blushed darkly. "Why did I tell you guys about that?"
"Because you have to tell us. We would have found out, anyway." Zephyr said.
"Found out about what?" Piotr asked as he walked up behind them.
"Um." Samantha said, trying to think of something. "Found out about…the wall."
"Yes." Rachel agreed. "The wall. It's a very pretty wall."
"Wall? Did we do a subject change again?" Zephyr called again. "When did we stop talking about Bobby?"
Piotr raised an eyebrow. "You…um…three were discussing Bobby?"
"No, of course not. We were talking about walls." Samantha said, then raised her voice. "Don't you think the walls are lovely here, Piotr!"
"Oh! Yes. Walls." Zephyr agreed hurriedly. "Hi, Piotr."
Piotr blinked, too distracted by the fact that he was speaking to a woman who was currently taking a shower to comment on the strangeness of their conversation. "Um, hello, Zephyr." He shook his head. "If you ladies will excuse me, I have a Danger Room session with Telepsa."
Samantha's eyes lit up. "You guys are fighting together?"
Piotr nodded. "Yes. We have similar talents in that we can both withstand more damage than average. Storm mentioned a rockslide."
"So…there are going to be two shiny people running around in the middle of falling rocks?" Samantha asked.
He smiled, looking amused. "Da. You really enjoy things that are shiny."
Samantha beamed. "We have to watch them!"
"Wait! I wanna watch them, too!" Zephyr shouted.
"I'll wait here." Rachel offered. "You go get Cass, she'd kill us if we watched the shiny without her."
"Good point. I'd like to not die before I get to paint the pretty." Samantha agreed.
"I would walk with you, Samantha, but I would not want to keep Telepsa waiting." Piotr told them.
"Don't worry, big guy, it's fine." Samantha told him, patting him on the arm. "I'll see you guys there."
Telepsa shifted slightly, adjusting her leather pants. They hadn't officially become part of the X-men team yet, so they didn't have their own uniforms. But apparently Danger Room sessions required them, so she was wearing one of Rogue's shirt and a pair of Nightcrawler's pants. The pants didn't fit him anymore, since he had worn them in the rain and they had gotten shrunk. Then they had washed them so she could wear them, trying to shrink them more. They were still a bit too big, though, so she was wearing a belt in order to hold them up. She would have been wearing Rogue's pants as well, but Rogue didn't have a hole in her pants for a tail. And since Telepsa had opted to shift halfway into her dragon form, she now had a tail, as well as fangs and claws. The muscles in her arm had grown slightly in order to support the claws on her hands, making the leather sleeves a bit uncomfortable. She hoped Rogue wouldn't be too upset if she ended up ripping them. Telepsa made a mental note to ask them for a sleeveless shirt when they finally did get their own uniforms.
She was currently standing in front of the door to the Danger Room, waiting for Storm to open it. Supposedly Telepsa was going to have a partner, too, but she hadn't seen anyone yet. She was actually really looking forward to this. It was exciting, the thought of being able to use her abilities in such a high-tech surrounding. She couldn't wait to see what Storm had in store for her.
"Hello, Telepsa." Colossus greeted as he stepped up next to her. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I ran into your friends in the hall. They were discussing walls, and not Bobby."
Telepsa froze. This was her partner? It would have been really nice to know this beforehand. She probably wouldn't have shown up. As it was, she was trying to think of a reason to fade quickly into the background and just hope he wouldn't notice.
Unfortunately, the doors picked that moment to open, and Colossus smiled at her.
"It is time, da?" He told her. "Do not worry, you will do fine. I will be watching out for you."
He disappeared inside and Telepsa stared after him, trying not to notice how well his sleeveless shirt showed off his muscular arms. Before she realized it, she was following him, and then the doors were shut behind her and her chance to flee was gone.
She looked around her, senses on hyper alert as she took in her surroundings. The two of them were standing on a small dirt path. A steep cliff loomed to the right of them, and some of the rocks embedded in it didn't look entirely stable. To their left was an equally as steep drop.
"Welcome to your first Danger Room session, Telepsa." Storm's voice sounded through the air. "Your object is simple, find the victim and get him back safely. Ready?"
Without waiting for an answer, the session started up. The ground below her began to shake, and Colossus shifted into his metal form.
"Are you with me, Telepsa?" He asked.
Telepsa nodded, her eyes darted around her. "With you." She answered absently.
The two of them started down the dirt path, walking carefully as the ground continued to shake. Once a large tremor shook the earth, and Telepsa would have stumbled had Colossus not placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. She glanced up at him, then blushed at realizing how close they were to each other.
"Um. Uh, thanks." Telepsa murmured.
"Do not mention it. I think we better be on our guard, da? It seems to be getting worse." Colossus said.
They continued forward, but this time Colossus was walking closer to her. Telepsa could feel him next to her, even though they weren't technically touching, and she was trying really hard not to let it distract her. It didn't work very well, though, since suddenly his hand was over hers and he was pulling her towards him. He held her close to his chest as a huge boulder slammed into the ground where she had been before. Damn. She really needed to focus. When he had released her and they started forward once more, she made it a point to not look at him, completely focusing in on her surroundings.
Which was a very good thing, since it meant she was able to see the section of the cliff Colossus was standing over begin to shift. He must have not noticed, though, as he stopped right below it and pointed down the drop to their left.
"The…" He started, but didn't finish since he was cut off by the sound of the cliff falling apart.
Without even thinking about it, Telepsa lunged for him, tackling him. She pushed him out of the way of the biggest rocks, but unfortunately, those rocks started a landslide. Before she could climb off of Colossus, the two of them were buried, and she was pinned on top of him. Her eyes met his and, startled, she reverted back to her human form. Which, of course, didn't exactly help the situation.
"Um. Um." Telepsa stammered, trying to decide if moving would make the situation better or worse.
"Thank you." Colossus told her, the metal on his cheeks turning a bit pink. "I apologize for the awkward situation."
"You, uh. I." She started, but really couldn't finish. She just didn't know what to say. Because as awkward as the current situation was, she couldn't say she completely hated it. Aside from the pain in her back where the rocks had hit her and were currently resting, it wasn't the worst place she had ever been.
She must have winced or something, since Colossus frowned. "Are you all right?"
"I'm okay." She answered quickly.
"I could attempt to dig us out, but I believe I may hurt you more. And…." He trailed off, blushing. He wasn't really in a position where he could move without some slightly inappropriate touching.
"I'm okay." Telepsa repeated. She really should think of something intelligent to say. Beyond wishing she could get out of here.
"Storm will have cancelled the session." Colossus said. "The rocks were not so numerous as they appeared. We will be free before long."
Telepsa nodded her head. She could already feel some of the pressure on her back lessening. It took about five minutes, but finally they had been dug out. As the last rock was lifted off of them, Telepsa glanced up to see Storm, Cassandra, Samantha, Zephyr, and Rachel looking worriedly at them. The five women relaxed slightly at seeing Telepsa and Colossus were all right.
Cassandra gave them a slightly wicked grin. "Did you guys want us to just leave you in there?"