Author's Note: I can't believe how much I suck. This has taken me so freaking long. Sorry guys, I had serious writer's block and stuff I had to do and blarg. I'm pretty sure writer's block is over, though, since I know what I'm doing for the part I was struggling with next chapter. Soooo, yes! Here's an entirely Brotherhood chapter! Sorry if this is crap, but at least it's up, right? Anyway! On with the chapter! I'm so glad to be back in Eugene!!
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mouse pushed her wet hair out of her eyes and frowned at her reflection in the mirror. She was trying to decide whether or not she had enough time to blow dry her hair and put on make up before she had to go wake people up and attempt to drag them off somewhere to have fun. She and Charm had been up late the night before, discussing the rather spectacular defeat they had gone through yesterday afternoon, amongst other things. Mouse found it rather irritating that though they had just gone out for lunch and to show Nic some of New York, they had ended up fighting. If only those stupid X-men hadn't shown up, running off their mouths and pissing people off.
Now she understood what Pyro and Charm were talking about when they mentioned how annoying the X-men were. So self righteous, completely secure in their beliefs that they were right. It was silly. Anyone could see that the humans would never accept them, so why bother trying to force it? It was so much better to just sit back and have fun. That was the main reason Mouse was here. That, and she did want to make sure mutants wouldn't get tossed aside in the inevitable war. Magneto was totally right, with his subtle and not-so-subtle plans to make sure mutants got their proper place. If Mouse could help out with that, then she was so for it. As long as it didn't take up all of her time, that is. There were other important things to do.
Like right now! She and Charm had decided that people here were entirely too boring and needed to get out. So they were going shopping. Because shopping was fun! And because they had seen Nic's wardrobe last night, and damn, was it lacking. Nic so needed new clothes. So they were dragging her with them! And anyone else that they could convince to go without bodily harm. Well, without bodily harm towards Mouse and Charm, anyway.
Anyway. Back to the decision at hand. Blow dry or not blow dry? Mouse checked the time and decided not blow drying. Besides, she looked good with wet hair. It was short enough that she could just run her fingers through her hair, tousle it a bit and it'd be sexy as hell. She put on her make-up, then grinned at herself and kissed the mirror, giggling at the little lipstick marks that she left behind. With that, she flounced out of the bathroom and down the hallway.
She paused at Alex's room, rolling her eyes as she leaned in the doorway of the open door. "Hey, new boy."
He looked up, then grinned and responded, "Hey new girl."
Her eyes flicked over him, taking in the longish blonde hair falling into intelligent brown eyes, and the tanktop and ripped jeans that showed off dark tan skin and damn fine muscles. Hell, yeah. "We're going shopping." She announced. "You're coming with us."
Alex's grin widened. "Am I? All right, then." He rolled off his bed in a lazy, fluid motion and padded over to meet her. "Well? Let's go."
Mouse beamed at him. "I love how easy you are." She commented, stroking a finger along his jawline as she started down the hall.
He caught up to her and she thread her arm through his as they walked, gathering other people along. In the end, Mouse and Charm had gotten Alex, Pyro, Pietro, Toad, and Madrox to come along willingly. Nic was dragged along, of course, but when Madrox went to ask Tenebra to come along, the shadow mutant actually agreed. No one was sure how that happened, but Mouse made a mental note to give more credit to Madrox's methods of persuasion. The real shock came when Charm somehow managed to convince Aphedria to come along. Charm refused to say how, but later Charm told Mouse that she had bribed Aphedria with a new crossbow. After that, it was pretty simple to convince Backlash that a social outing would help them bond and make a better team, if they ignored the fact that Monster refused to come and Psych couldn't be found. Then they were all on their way to the mall.
"Nic, get out here," Charm called.
"I will not," Nic replied from inside the dressing room stall. "You actually want me to be seen in public in this?"
"Come on, we promised the boys a show," Mouse said.
"Then you two can give it to them," Nic retorted.
When the Brotherhood had gotten to the mall, they had spent a little while looking around together, but gradually they had separated into smaller groups. Tenebra had wandered off somewhere and Madrox had followed after her. Then Mouse and Charm had pulled Nic into one of the clothing stores. Pyro, Alex, and Pietro had decided to stay with them, while Aphedria, Backlash, and Toad had continued on.
Charm and Mouse immediately began picking out clothes for Nic, as well as some for themselves. They had headed to the dressing room, where Charm and Mouse had been trying on skimpy outfits and then coming out to show the boys. They were picking which ones to buy based on which clothes made the boys stare the most.
Nic, though, had yet to come out of the dressing room. And, unfortunately, it was very unlikely she would come out in most of the clothes that Charm and Mouse had picked out. If she was even trying them on at all.
"We have been giving it to them. It's your turn," Charm commented with a grin.
"Okay, just wear the jeans and the camouflage tank, then. Those aren't bad at all," Mouse said.
"Fine," Nic said, coming out after a moment's pause. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a spaghetti-strap camouflage shirt that ended about three inches above the top of her pants.
"Now that looks good," Alex told her.
Nic shifted uncomfortably. "These aren't proper clothes for battle."
"We're not battling all the time, Nic, what are you gonna wear then?" Mouse asked.
"What I have now is fine," Nic protested.
"It so is not," Charm told her.
"Charm!" Aphedria announced, coming up behind them. "Crossbow. Now."
Charm turned to look at her. "Didn't you go off with Backlash and Toad?"
"They've gone home," Aphedria replied.
"They didn't take Crimson, did they?" Charm asked, sounding slightly worried.
"No, they took a new car, one Toad liked," Aphedria replied. "Now come on."
"Fine, fine," Charm said, turning to look at the others. "We'll be back in a bit. Take good care of Nic, kay Mouse?"
Lance Alvers sighed heavily as he examined the plate of nachos that sat before him. So far, he was entirely unimpressed with New York. It was just like L.A., or Chicago, or any other big city he had been to. Full of small-minded humans who did nothing but piss him off. And so far, the rumors that Magneto had his headquarters here seemed to be unfounded. Of course, he had only been in New York for a little under a day, but Lance had never been a very patient person. He was already planning on moving on.
A tingling feeling at the back of his neck gave him the feeling that someone was watching him and his gaze snapped up, darting around the food court. A pretty girl about his age was sitting a few tables away from him, with strawberry blonde hair and blue-green eyes that Lance could have compared to the ocean if he was feeling particularly romantic. He wasn't, at the moment, but he relaxed now that he realized who had been staring at him.
He grinned at her and her eyes dropped down to the plate of fries she was eating as she realized that she had been caught. After a moment, though, she looked up again and smiled back at him. Taking that as an invitation, Lance grabbed his nachos and headed over to her table. Things seemed to be looking up.
"Mind if I sit here?" Lance asked, standing by the empty chair at her table.
"Go ahead," she replied. "But you'll have to share the nachos."
Lance grinned at her, sitting down and setting the nachos in the middle of the table. "Fine, but I want some fries in return."
"They're garlic," she warned as she pushed the plate towards him.
"Great," he said, snagging a few fries. "Almost as good as chili fries."
"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "Garlic fries are definitely better."
"Then you obviously haven't tried my chili fries," Lance told her. "They'd rock your world."
She laughed. "I'll reserve judgment until I've tried them. Until then, my vote goes with garlic fries."
"I don't know if I want to share my nachos with you after hearing how misguided your judgment is." Lance said.
She reached out and grabbed a nacho before he could pull them away. "Too late. You already sat down, now you have to forfeit the nachos."
Lance considered that for a moment, then commented teasingly, "Well if I had known that, I might have just stayed over at my table."
"Now that would have been misguided judgment," she said with a grin.
"I see your point," he conceded. "All right, I guess sitting here is worth sacrificing a few nachos. Even if you don't have faith in my chili fries."
"You could try to convince me to be a believer. It'd probably be entertaining," she teased.
Lance shook his head, "I think my efforts would probably be useless. But just wait until I actually have them with me. Then you'd have to see the truth."
"The truth is out there," she said, nodding her head as if she agreed.
"You've been watching too much X-Files," Lance told her.
"Nah," she replied. "The reruns are on the same time as Charmed reruns and, clearly, Charmed is better."
"Clearly," Lance agreed. "Phoebe was hot."
She grinned. "Phoebe's my favorite."
Lance leaned back, casting his gaze over her. "Yeah, I see some resemblance. In the hot category, anyway."
"Flatterer," she said, but she looked pleased.
They talked for the better part of an hour, until she looked down at her watch and sighed.
"I should probably get going," she said reluctantly. "I was supposed to meet my cousin ten minutes ago. She's probably freaking out."
"Yeah, you wouldn't want her to worry about you," Lance said, surprised that he was actually a bit sorry to see her go.
"Maybe we could talk again sometime?" she suggested, suddenly looking a bit nervous.
"I'd like that," Lance agreed.
"Great," she said, brightening. "Do you live in New York?"
"I'm only passing through, but I can thing of a reason or two to stay a bit longer," he told her, grinning.
She blushed slightly. "I'm just visiting my cousin, but I might be moving in with her. So I'll be here awhile." She pulled out a pen and took his hand, writing her number on the back of it. "Call me if you decide to stay in town?"
"I will," he said, glancing down at his hand. She had written Kaliah along with her phone number, and he realized they hadn't told each other their names. "Kaliah? That's a pretty name. I'm Lance."
"Thanks," Kaliah said, then stood up. "See you around."
Lance watched her go, grinning. Yes, things were definitely looking up. He stood up, pushing his chair back. Unfortunately, he hadn't realized that someone was standing behind him, and his chair hit the person. Lance turned around to face a muscular blonde guy wearing a letterman's jacket and smirked inwardly. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"Watch where you're going," the guy growled.
Lance shrugged. "It's not my fault you're stupid enough to stand behind someone's chair."
"He's mouthing off to you, Duncan," one of the jock's friends heckled. "Are you gonna take that?"
"Not a smart move, dumbass," the jock said, throwing a punch at him.
Lance ducked, dropping to the ground and then rolling back up. He grinned widely as he summoned up his power, his eyes rolling back in his head as he slammed his foot on the ground.
"Why do you continue to follow me around?" Tenebra demanded, but in a slightly absent manner, as if she didn't expect a response.
"Why do you continue to ask that question?" Madrox returned, a cocky grin on his lips.
"Because every time I do, you neither answer me nor stop," she replied. "I've killed people for less."
"I'm sure you have," he agreed cheerfully. "It's worth the risk, beautiful."
Tenebra frowned at him. "I know I'm attractive. That should have no effect on the amount of time you chose to spend in my presence. We're team members." Saying that last part left a bit of a bad taste in Tenebra's mouth. She still wasn't used to working with anyone but herself.
Madrox shrugged. "Shouldn't, but it does. Maybe I enjoy these stimulating conversations we have. Or maybe I just love flirting with danger." He winked at her. "You haven't killed me yet."
Tenebra's frown deepened. "No, I haven't." She didn't know why that was. She had agreed to this playing nice thing, and that might have been it. Tenebra was a person of her word, after all. She had to be, in the assassin business. If she said she'd do it, it would be done. Aside from that, Tenebra hardly ever killed if she wasn't getting paid for it. But regardless, there was only so much Tenebra could take before she snapped. And she had snapped a lot quicker than this in the past.
She stopped walking, then, pausing to examine the man before her. Tenebra found him attractive, but that didn't mean anything. She had sleep with men who were far more attractive than he was many times to aide her rise in rank. A few times she had even slept with men far less attractive, although those hadn't been nearly as enjoyable. She had even sought out men such as him, prettier than him, after a particularly good kill that left her feeling energized.
Perhaps that was it. Tenebra had not killed anyone since she had joined Magneto's team. The solution to that was simple. Magneto had her teamed up with Aphedria on a hunt that night. Tenebra would kill their target, and then see if the fact that Madrox still lived was a good thing. Satisfied, Tenebra gave a predatory smile to Madrox, who had stopped his walking to raise an eyebrow at her.
The eyebrow rose even further at the sight of her grin. "Whatever it is, I either want to be front row or very far away."
Few people took Tenebra by surprise. Madrox was one of them, and he did so then. Tenebra couldn't remember the last person who didn't feel the slightest bit of fear at her blades in the moonlight smile. "You may not want a front row seat, but you'll get one. Audience participation required."
A sly grin spread across his lips, but whatever he had been about to say next was cut off as a small earthquake shook the mall. Madrox and Tenebra glanced at each other, then towards the food court as a larger tremor knocked several people nearby off their feet.
"I bet Charm, Mouse and the boys are responsible for this," Tenebra said.
"I bet we're missing all the fun," Madrox replied, walking off.
Tenebra remained where she was for a moment, then sighed softly and headed after him.
"So who's your favorite?" Alex asked, leaning against the wall behind them as the three guys watched Mouse picking out another pair of jeans for Nic.
"Favorite?" Pietro repeated, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "There's three of us and three of them. Perfect for hooking up."
Pietro rolled his eyes. "It never works out like that."
Alex shrugged. "True. But it'd be nice. Still, can't we pick favorites? I kind of like Mouse."
Pietro considered. "I don't know. I'd rather just have them all." He grinned.
"What about you, Pyro?" Alex asked.
"I didn't come here for hooking up," Pyro replied, then smirked. "It just happened."
"So are you and Charm serious or is it just casual stuff?" Pietro asked.
Pyro shrugged. "It was pretty exclusive, but there was no one else here worth doing. She's not the serious relationship type, anyway."
"Yeah, she didn't seem like it," Alex said.
"She and Mouse are the same," Pietro replied. "I traveled here with Mouse, and she flirted constantly with me and Psych. Madrox, too."
"Wonder if Mouse is all talk," Alex mused absently. "Some girls are like that, you know. But then it's even more fun when you finally get them to go with you."
Pietro shrugged. "I just don't know if I see Mouse like that. Yeah, she's a flirt, but she's kinda young. She's like, sixteen or something."
"Do you know, or are you just guessing?" Alex asked, sounding slightly wistful.
"Guessing," Pietro said. "But she looks sixteen, and she acts it."
"Damn," Alex said. "Oh, well. Sex isn't everything."
"Charm acts just like her, and she's twenty-four," Pyro told him.
"Good point," Pietro agreed. "You should ask her."
"I will," Alex said. "When she's alone, though. Girls in groups freak me out. They're always giggling at you."
"Nic's not like regular girls, though," Pietro said. "Mouse and Charm had to drag her here."
"I dunno, she looks like she's having fun." Alex said, staring over at Nic for awhile. "She's complaining a lot, but she's getting a lot of the clothes. She looks pretty good in them, too."
"You just can't make up your mind, can you?" Pietro teased.
Pyro grinned. "Says the guy who wants them all."
"You can't talk, you've already made up your mind," Alex grumbled.
"Charm made it up for him," Pietro said.
"I don't think Charm'd say no to a threesome," Pyro replied, considering. "She'd probably try to get a couple extra guys in there, though."
"Brotherhood orgy," Alex commented cheerfully. "Sounds good."
"We should take votes," Mouse said, coming up behind them. "See who'd be up for it. I'm totally in."
"Are you buying those, Nic?" Alex asked, looking at the clothes in her hand. "Those looked great on you."
"Mouse is buying them for me," Nic told him. "I don't want to waste money on them."
"Yup," Mouse agreed. "I'm buying them. You guys wanna entertain Nicci while I go do that?"
"Nic," Nic said, glaring at her. "It's Nic."
"Right." Mouse nodded. "So I'll meet you guys outside."
She started towards the counter, but as she passed Pietro, the ground trembled and she stumbled into him. He caught her, but then another tremble sent them both onto the ground. Pietro stood and helped her up, then looked at the other three.
"I'm betting that wasn't natural," Pyro said. "What do you say we go check things out?"
"How the hell did you get me to come again?" Aphedria muttered.
"I promised you a crossbow," Charm replied as they walked through the mall. "And, may I remind you, I am leaving behind three very hot boys to get you said crossbow."
"That was a rhetorical question, Charm, you weren't supposed to answer it," Aphedria commented.
Charm grinned. "You know such subtleties are lost on me, hon. Besides, if you hadn't come and there had been a fight, you would have killed us for leaving you behind."
Aphedria just grunted in response and Charm smiled again, knowing she was right. They found the weapons shop, then, and headed inside, walking right up to the counter. Charm immediately started flirting with the young man working the cash register, while Aphedria used the distraction to hop behind the counter and start examining the crossbows.
"Hey…You're not supposed to be back there," the man said, half-turning to look at Aphedria.
She raised an eyebrow at him, obviously not caring.
"Don't worry, sugar, she knows what she's doing," Charm told him.
The man didn't look entirely convinced, but before he could either say something or just go back to flirting, the store shook slightly.
Charm frowned. "What the hell?"
Aphedria jumped back over the counter with a crossbow in hand as the ground shook again. "Trouble. Reason I came here. Let's go."
"Guess she wants that one," Charm commented as Aphedria stalked out of the store. "Thanks, hon." She dropped some money on the counter, then headed out after Aphedria.
She caught up to her quickly and the two headed towards the food court, where everyone seemed to be running away from. When they got there, they found that the rest of the Brotherhood still in the mall had gathered there as well.
"What's going on?" Charm asked Pyro.
"We all just got here," Pyro replied. "Looks like some flatscans are getting their asses kicked."
Sure enough, an attractive young man with longish brown hair slammed his foot into the ground and caused another earthquake, knocking a group of guys that had surrounded him to the ground.
"We should finish this," Pyro said. "Aphedria? Take them out."
"You got it," Aphedria said gleefully, reaching out her hand. Within a few moments, the guys surrounding the mutant began to wither away, quickly becoming nothing but skeletons.
The mutant guy looked around. He spotted them and shifted uncertainly, looking unsure if he should be getting ready for another fight.
"What's your name?" Backlash asked.
"Avalanche," he replied.
"Well, Avalanche," Pyro said. "How'd you like to join the Brotherhood?"