Author's Note: Yay. Chapter. Real chapter, not Logan the Unicorn. Hehehe. Oh! And I'm gonna take a moment to say thank you to all the shiny reviewers! And especially the people who I don't know in real life. You guys rule for actually reading my retarded, crack-induced fic. Lol. Yeah, and that last chapter was totally not part of the story. Just a random little funnyness that doesn't really happen. Aheh.
Chapter Nineteen
It was just past five in the morning when the meeting finally ended. Backlash had been present for the whole thing, making her officially one of Magneto's lieutenants. Which was a good thing, as he would most likely be needing more of them soon. Magneto had been busy in the few months that he had been away. In addition to the recruits that had arrived with Magneto yesterday, two more were due to come today. One would be returning with Mystique, while the other had refused an escort and would be arriving whenever the hell he felt like it. Pyro wasn't sure if that meant he would be coming whenever he felt like it today or sometime in the near futre, but Magneto had assured them that the young man would be arriving today. He just wasn't positive when.
Pyro didn't know how he felt about all these new people coming. Especially since Magneto had decided to put an extra emphasis on teamwork and had created training sessions that would force them to work together. Pyro did have to admit that he was right, though. Those X-geeks knew that there was strength in coordinating their powers, covering each others' weaknesses so that everyone was stronger. And since the X-men were taking advantage of that strategy, if the Brotherhood wanted to have any chance at defeating them, they would have to do so as well.
In any case, Pyro trusted that Magneto knew what was the best approach to training. After all, he and Xavier had been friends for years. Magneto would doubtless know what the telepath's weaknesses were. Besides, after the meeting, Pyro didn't really want to try and force his brain to work any more. He just wanted to go into his room and crash on his bed, then sleep for as long as possible. So he was relatively relieved when he reached his room and didn't find Charm waiting for him. If she had been there, she probably would have pouted her way into getting him to have sex with her. Which, of course, wasn't a bad thing. He was just sort of in the mood for sleep.
He had been in bed for only a few minutes when he had to get up to make a trip to the bathroom. On his way there, he passed Charm's room and discovered why she hadn't been waiting for him. Two female voices were giggling from inside, and Pyro gave a bit of a grin. The other one was probably Mouse. He knew Aphedria and Backlash well enough by now to know that there was no way either of them would be in Charm's room giggling, and Magneto's report on Tenebra ruled her out as well. Pyro shook his head as he went to the bathroom and headed back to his room. Well, at least the two girls would have the teamwork thing down pretty easy.
Pyro managed to sleep for a few hours before Toad came in to wake him up for a training session with all of the present lieutenants. They performed well, and finished before ten o'clock. Since Pyro wasn't exactly sure when the two new recruits would be arriving, he figured he should probably stay up. And, of course, since he had to be up, there was no way he was going to let Charm sleep in. He headed off to her room and opened the door, walking in without knocking.
The two girls had apparently fallen asleep some time during their long conversation. Pyro grinned mischievously as he eyed them for a moment, then he sauntered over to the bed and jumped up on it. He plopped down as hard as he could on the edge of the bed next to Charm, sending both girls bouncing a few inches into the air.
Mouse let out a small 'eeep' noise, but Charm just opened one eye to glare at him.
"What the hell was that?" Mouse demanded sleepily.
"Pyro joining us." Charm commented, slipping one arm across Pyro's chest and tossing her leg over his.
"No, that would be time to get up." Pyro informed them.
"Nope." Mouse replied, rolling over to face the two of them. "Sleepy time."
"Lousy wake up call, hon." Charm said with a smile before she closed her eyes again.
"Hey." Mouse grumped. "How come you get to snuggle with the cute boy."
"'Cause I'm extra special." Charm answered without opening her eyes.
"Come on, get up." Pyro said, attempting to sound stern.
"No getting up." Mouse protested, closing her own eyes and snuggling back under the covers.
"You're with us now." Charm agreed.
Pyro considered for a moment, then gave in. He had wanted to go back to sleep anyway. Might as well sleep in bed with two hot girls.
Her hands were shaking. Well, she assumed both of them were shaking. But since one was being firmly held by Angel, Zephyr could only see one of them trembling. She willed it to stop, but it ignored her, so she gave up and cast her gaze around the plane. Angel was sitting next to her, tapping the fingers of his free hand absently on his knee. Rogue was across from her, a blank expression on her face as the Southern girl took rhythmic breaths, murmuring something that Zephyr couldn't understand. Next to Rogue was Colossus, his dark brown eyes staring off into nothing. His hands were gripping his knees, though, so hard that his knuckles were turning white.
In the front of the plane, Storm was piloting with Cyclops sitting in the co-pilot's seat. Arabus sat between them, using a different movements and sounds to indicate which way they should go. Towards the back, Wolverine stood in front of Elixir and Amp. He was speaking in low, forceful tones, likely telling the two students exactly what would happen if they left the plane.
Tension lay thick in the air, but underneath that was a sense of hope. Zephyr chose to cling to that. They would find her friends, and get them out of…where ever they were. And then everything would be okay again. Because it just had to be.
Kurt's tail was wrapped around her arm, and Samantha was absently running her fingers across the silky fur that covered it. It comforted her, a lot more than she was willing to admit. Just him being there, for her to touch, made her…well, made her remember she was human. It had to be him, because she wasn't entirely sure she was strong enough to keep her animal side in control in a situation like this. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and she tilted her head so she could see his face. He felt the movement and turned to look at her. Kurt smiled as his eyes met hers, and it was then that Samantha realized something.
She was kind of in love with him. Or if not quite in love with him, then…almost there. Huh. When had that happened? Well, so much for her avoid love as long possible policy. Samantha smiled back at him, then shifted, leaning her head against his shoulder once more. It didn't matter. There was no way he'd return the feelings, so Samantha would just have to ignore it. It'd probably go away soon, anyway. Actually, it was probably just because of what was happening. Things like this messed with people, so she was probably just trying to latch onto a friendship and make it something more.
Satisfied that she had a solution, Samantha cast her gaze around their cells. "I hear that train a'coming," She sang absently. "It's just around the bend. And I ain't seen the sunshine since, I don't know when."
"I'm stuck in Folsom Prison," Gambit added, taking over the song. "And time keeps draggin' on. But that train keeps a'rollin', on down to San Anton."
Samantha grinned and sang along with him, "When I was just a baby, my momma told me son. Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns."
"It's a good thing Anorra's out right now." Rachel muttered under her breath.
Gambit and Samantha didn't seem to hear her, though, since they kept right on singing. "But I shot a man in Reno. Just to watch him die…"
"You guys have an interesting way of passing time." Zephyr commented, drawing everyone's attention towards her. She stood there grinning, holding a set of keys in one hand.
Gleeful cries of "Zephyr!" sounded as everyone stopped what they were doing and moved towards the doors of their cages.
"How'd you find us?" Samantha asked.
"And how'd you get in here?" Kurt questioned.
"Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Angel are distracting the guards." Zephyr told them as she unlocked Samantha and Kurt's cage. Samantha immediately hugged Zephyr.
Zephyr hugged her back, smiling widely.
Samantha grinned back, then paused, her eyes unfocusing slightly. "Arabus? Baby?"
"Oh, yeah, he led us here. Something to do with your mind link. He's outside picking off the sentries." Zephyr said.
Samantha beamed and did a little twirl around. "You're back! No, I won't ever leave again. Lonely as hell without you all in there."
"Yay for Sam. She hears voices again." Cassandra said with a grin. "Can I come out now?"
"Rogue and Colossus should be here soon." Zephyr said. "They…"
"Actually, Rogue and Colossus are here right now." Rogue cut in. "With the other set of keys."
"Is everyone all right?" Colossus asked, looking around. "What happened to Anorra and Rachel?"
There was a moment of silence, then Bobby said, "We'll, um, explain later."
"Yeah." Rachel agreed. "Somewhere that's not here."
The topic was dropped, and Zephyr let Cassandra out while Rogue went around to unlock Bobby, Gambit, and Rachel's cage. Cassandra gleefully joined Samantha and Zephyr in a group hug, while Bobby carefully led Rachel over to them.
"We've brought Elixir and Amp with us." Colossus told Rachel. "They're waiting on the plane, so do not worry. You will be good as new in no time."
"Come on, swamp rat, let's move it." Rogue told Gambit, who had hung back in the cage.
"Wait one moment, chere." Gambit said, taking Rogue's hand and pulling her inside the cage.
Before she could protest, his mouth had covered hers in a deep kiss. To her surprise, nothing happened. Shocked, Rogue pulled away for a moment, then leaned in to kiss him again. Her hands slipped under his shirt, feeling his warm skin beneath her fingertips. His own hands roamed over her body, touching as much skin as was possible. When they finally broke apart, a small tear fell from Rogue's eye. Gambit reached up to wipe it away, smiling at her.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"Thought you might enjoy that, chere." He told her softly.
Rogue kissed him one more time, then reluctantly lead him from the cage. She left him with the others as she and Colossus went to go unlock Anorra's cage.
"How did you know that Rogue's power would be considered an active one?" Kurt asked.
Gambit shrugged. "Didn't. Remy just figured it would be worth the risk."
Before anyone could reply, Cassandra called, "Logan!"
Sure enough, Wolverine was walking towards them, with Amp and Elixir following him meekly. Cassandra ran towards them, practically tackling Wolverine as she wrapped her arms around him. Surprisingly, at least to most of the people watching, his own arms tightened around her just as fiercely.
"You okay?" He asked her quietly.
"You're here." She replied. "I'm perfect."
After a moment, he released her and they joined the group. Samantha was the only other one to hug him, and Wolverine tolerantly hugged her back before turning to glare at Elixir and Amp.
"Guess who I found following us?" He asked rhetorically.
Amp gave a sheepish smile. "The lock on the plane was broken?"
"Yeah, I bet it's broken now." Wolverine growled as Rogue, Colossus, and Anorra joined them.
Colossus had Anorra carefully cradled in his arms. Amp spotted her and pointed.
"See, look, someone's hurt." Amp commented.
Elixir nodded. "We knew someone would be. We were only thinking ahead, really."
Wolverine growled again. "You two are going to be in big trouble when we get back home." He looked over the group, taking an injury count. "All right, since you're here, take care of Rachel."
Amp beamed and Elixir gave a slightly cocky smile. Elixir grabbed Amp's hand, which she was not going to blush at. Amp's hand glowed red, amplifying Elixir's power. He placed his free hand over Rachel's shoulder. It glowed as well, a bright gold as he concentrated on his healing. Before long, Rachel's injuries were completely gone.
Rachel smiled, stretching out her arms. "Good job, guys."
"Like these two would ever just stay on the plane." Samantha commented cheerfully, moving over to hug them like she had everyone else.
Amp grinned, but Elixir blushed slightly, his gold skin turning a light pink.
"The doors were supposed to lock them in." Rogue said, glaring at the two students.
"Not if they can't shut all the way." Amp said. "It's not our fault there happened to be a loose metal pipe between the door and the wall."
"Exactly." Elixir agreed. "We don't know how it got there."
"Shut up, you're wasting time." Wolverine said. "We're out of here."
They hadn't gotten very far, though, when they were met by a dozen or so armed guards. Wolverine grinned and lunged at them, followed very closely by most of the others. Colossus hung back, though, since he was still carrying Anorra.
The fight hadn't gone on very long when Cassandra suddenly turned towards him. "Put her down!"
"Pardon?" Colossus asked.
"Anorra!" Cassandra yelled. "Put her down! Now!"
Colossus looked down at Anorra, then back to Cassandra, but before he could say anything, Anorra's body began to shift.
When Pyro woke up, it was just past one in the afternoon. Their sleep hadn't been interrupted, though, so the new recruits must not have come yet. Unless one of the other lieutenants had handled it, but Pyro doubted it. Mystique was supposedly bringing one of them in, but he doubted she hang around afterwards. She'd most likely want to go talk to Magneto. Both Toad and Backlash would probably dump the newbie off on him. Sadly, Pyro was actually the most sociable person out of the lieutenants. Well, Toad could be pretty sociable, if he was in the mood for it. Especially if the new recruit happened to be female.
In any case, no one had come to wake them up, so Pyro wasn't concerned about his impromptu nap. Of course, he wouldn't have been concerned with it, anyway, but at least no he knew he wasn't sleeping while he was needed.
Charm was still half on top of him, making it difficult for him to move. Pyro rolled his eyes slightly and moved anyway, sitting up so that her arm slid off. Charm grumbled under her breath, opening her eyes to stare at him.
"What's with the moving?" She muttered.
"Get up." He replied.
"That's your job." Charm said.
He considered that for a moment, then snickered before smacking her. "Shut up. And come on, no more sleeping."
"That's what you said a few hours ago." Mouse murmured. "And yet here we are, still sleeping."
Pyro pushed Charm's leg off and rolled out of bed. He grabbed the comforter and tugged, yanking it off the two girls.
"Hey! Give that back!" Mouse demanded.
"You suck, hon." Charm said, but she gave a long stretch and slid out of the bed. "We should probably get up. It's after one."
"Damn. We slept away the morning. Go us." Mouse commented, sitting up.
Pyro looked at them for a moment, noticing without surprise that both of them had decided to sleep in their underwear. "Get dressed, you two, you're going to help me show around the newbie."
He walked out without waiting for an answer. It didn't really matter whether they listened to him or not. He figured they would, though, especially Charm. The fact that she tended to do what he asked, eventually, hadn't gone unnoticed. Of course, he was over looking the fact that he often did what she asked as well.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Charm and Mouse joined him in the rec room.
"So where's this new guy?" Charm asked.
"Not here yet." Pyro replied. "And I don't know if he's a guy."
"What are we supposed to do when he gets here?" Mouse questioned. "I did just get here yesterday, you know."
He shrugged. "Entertain him. You guys are good at that."
Mouse raised an eyebrow. "How do you know what I'm good at?"
"He doesn't. Maybe you should show him, hon." Charm said, grinning. "Of course, then I might get jealous." She winked.
"Oh, don't worry, I've already heard all about what he can do." Mouse said. "Then again, it might be fun to experience it."
Pyro tried to figure out how he felt about Charm telling Mouse all about their sex life and decided he didn't care. "Good to know you brag about me."
"All the time, sweetie." Charm told him, then spotted an unfamiliar woman with red hair and blue eyes walking by. "Yo! New girl!"
The woman turned sharply, the heels of her boots clicking together as she faced them. "I have a name. It's Nic."
"You have a codename, hon?" Charm asked.
Nic frowned at her before replying. "It's Arsenic. But unless we're in battle, Nic will suffice."
"Okay, Nic, I'm Pyro." He said. "Welcome to the Brotherhood."
Nic smiled, looking relieved. "You're Pyro?" She stood straighter and gave him a salute, face perfectly serious. "Thank you, sir."
Pyro nodded. So she was the military girl. Magneto had said that Nic would be providing them with some very important information. "You're welcome. This is Charm and Mouse."
Nic nodded to them, then turned back to Pyro. "Mystique said I should inform you that I have already been given a tour, sir. She also says that next time you should get your lazy ass out of bed because she sure as hell isn't going to go in and wake you up."
Pyro grinned, amused. "She would say that. Look, girls you got me in trouble."
"Like you didn't enjoy it." Mouse said.
"Let's go out." Charm commented suddenly. "Come on, Nic, we'll show you the best places to get a drink around here."
Nic stared at them. "You want me to go out drinking with you?"
"Sure." Mouse replied. "Don't tell me you guys didn't go drink in the army. It'll be like a welcome here thing."
Nic turned to Pyro. "Will you be going?"
"If I don't, they'll drag me out, anyway." Pyro commented. "We might as well go."
"Awesome!" Charm said with a grin. "Come on, we'll take Crimson."
The dragon woke up before she did. By the time Anorra was aware of what was going on, she was just finishing the change into her dragon form. For a moment, Anorra was thrilled. That meant she was out of the cage, able to change again. Damn, it felt good. Being human was fine, and definitely had its perks, but it was nothing compared to being a dragon. This was she was. This form was where she belonged. When her feet started moving, though, Anorra felt a brief twinge of panic.
It was then that she remembered what had happened before she had been knocked out. It was fuzzy, as if it had been a movie, or a dream, but it was there. And she suddenly felt a bit sick. Her jaws closed around a guard, then, and she tore, ripping him almost in half. Anorra watched herself move onto another, leaving that one dying on the ground behind her. Someone attacked her from behind and she lashed out, knocking him over with her tail.
He went flying into the cave wall and Anorra heard a rumble of pleasure come from her. She buried her muzzle into the soft abdomen of another guard, and when she lifted her head it was bloody. Anorra's vision was blurry now, and the roar that she knew was hers sounded distant. She struggled to gain control, to make herself stop. She was only attacking guards now, but what would happen when they were all gone? But she was tired, from the drugs and from fighting it as long as she had. And the dragon was stronger. The room faded further, and then Anorra was gone.
Yelling wasn't getting them anywhere. They all knew it wouldn't, though. It wasn't hard to tell that Anorra was beyond hearing them. She tore through the guards with glee, and when more showed up, she killed them, too. No one really knew what to do. This was Anorra, one of their best friends. They couldn't just attack her. But she was on the last few guards, and few people thought she would stop when they were all dead.
"I can try to reach her." Samantha said. "We're out of the cages, now, maybe I can get to her."
Without waiting for approval, Samantha dropped her shields. Instantly, a wash of fury filled her and she gasped. Anorra shouldn't have been this strong in her mind. Samantha never got any emotions of off Anorra, unless she really tried. And even then, they were faint. Anorra was a mutant, not an animal. But this….This was all animal. Samantha could barely even feel her friend any more. It was like the dragon had just over powered her, shoving her into some dark corner in her mind while it did whatever the hell it wanted.
Samantha knew the feeling. In fact, she could feel it right now. Anorra was strong, so was her dragon. Without her shields, Samantha was vulnerable to the emotions of animals. And fury was a damn powerful emotion. Especially when Samantha had already been feeling it a bit herself. These people, they had hurt her. And they had hurt her pack. Why the hell shouldn't they be killed? They'd all pay. She'd show them what she was, that they weren't stronger than her. There was no way humans were going to push her around.
She howled, not a hunt song, but a killing one. The hunt was over. In the distance, she heard a return howl and she grinned, showing off fangs. Samantha lunged, moving to join the dragon in its killing, but something grabbed her. She whirled around, then caught the person's scent and stopped. He was pack. She was confused. Why was he stopping her? He should be helping her, helping her defend them. Samantha sniffed the air, and realized none of her packmates were moving to join in the kill.
She snarled as another wave of anger hit her and her eyes locked with Kurt's. She stopped. No. Samantha was stronger than this. She controlled her power. Her hand grabbed Kurt's, as if he could keep her anchored. Her eyes darted around the room, then landed on Amp and she grinned.
"Amp!" Samantha called, holding out her free hand.
Amp's eyes lit up and she jogged over, grabbing Samantha's hand. Keeping her grip on both of them, Samantha turned back to Anorra. Suddenly, Samantha felt incredible. She could hear animals from thousands of miles away, their thoughts in her head as clear as if they were right next to her. Just as easily, she banished them away, and focused on Anorra.
Anorra! I know you're in there, sweetie, come here! Samantha called.
Sam? Anorra asked, sounding far away.
The dragon bristled at the intruder in its mind and pushed at her. Samantha pushed back, refusing to leave. Her mental grip on it tightened, locking it in place. The dragon fought, but Samantha ignored it.
I need your help. Samantha said. This is your dragon, not mine. You're not animal enough for me to control it. Not for long. Come on, girl, you're human. Remember that?
Not sure if it would work, Samantha pushed her emotions at Anorra like she would if she were comforting an injured or lost animal. Added to that, she sent the sense of Anorra as a human, then prayed.
Something must have worked, because Samantha suddenly felt Anorra's presence become stronger. Working together, the two girls reigned in the dragon, leaving Anorra back in charge.
Blinking, Anorra looked around. I'm sorry. I'm so, so…. She shook her head and made a decision. I have to go.
Before anyone could protest, Anorra took off, running as fast as she could until she was out of the cave and up in the air.
"Anorra!" Colossus called, starting to go after her.
"Don't." Samantha said, sounding exhausted. "She needs some time alone." She had let go of Amp's hand awhile ago, and now she wrapped her arm around Kurt's waist, leaning against him slightly as if for support in standing. "Can we go home now?"