I woke up chained in a dank room. As my eyes grew accustomed to the faint light, I figured out that Victor was sitting to my right, and Nesha and Logan were to my left. I groaned and sat up. "Hello, sleepyhead," Victor purred.

"Jesus," I moaned. "I think they hit me in the head."

"Twice," Victor corrected.

"Ugh, my head is throbbing. And it's all your fault. Why in God's name did you have to go off and do that? Huh? It's kinda making me wonder if perhaps I'm not good enough. Is that it?"

"Oh my god," Logan sighed. "Here we go."

"I'm serious!" I cried. "I want to know."

Victor rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Do we really have to talk about this right now?"

"I can't think of any better time."

"Never sounds appealing."

I shuddered in anger. "I could take a huge bite out of your throat right now," I told him.

"Well, you know me. That would only get me hot."

"God damn it!" I reached over and smacked at him while he laughed and laughed. Logan even allowed himself a small smile. Nesha was trying to be supportive, but she ended up grinning too. Victor caught one of my flailing hands and brought it up to his lips. The contact made my skin tingle. I could never keep fighting when he did shit like that. He purred deeply and lightly brushed my hand with his tongue. I yanked my hand away and said, "Give me that!" He merely smiled seductively at me.

We were all quiet for a while. A rat scuttled in and Victor picked it up and placed it on his arm and played with it. Nesha groaned, "Ugh, Victor, that's disgusting."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. My head was still pounding, so I leaned over and put it on his shoulder. He ever so slightly leaned his against mine as if afraid to let the others see him be gentle.

About an hour later, the huge door to the cell swung open. I groaned when the light hit my eyes. It sent my head into another frenzy of pain. I managed to pick it up off Victor's shoulder and get my eyes to adjust though. A man in an army uniform walked in. "My name is Major William Stryker," he said. "You've been charged with killing a senior officer. Is that correct?"

Victor answered, "Apparently we have some issues with authority…"

"Keep a lid on it," I said.

"…sir," he finished. I allowed myself to smile.

Stryker continued, "The warden tells me that your sentence was carried out by firing squad at 1000 hours. How did that go?"

"It tickled," Logan told him. Even Stryker smiled at that.

"You all tired of running? Tired of denying your true nature?"

"What do you care?" I asked.

"Oh, I care. I care because I know how special you are. How valuable." We all stared at him apprehensively, not knowing whether to trust him or not. He knelt in front of us. "Look, you can stay here, locked up like freaks of nature, or you can join me. I'm putting together a special team, with special privileges." Victor and I exchanged glances. "Now, tell me. How would you like to really serve your country?"

We all looked around at each other. I didn't like the idea, but I didn't really want to stay in this hell-hole either. I tested him. "I'm Russian."

He turned and asked, "So?"

I shrugged. "Alright. I just thought you might like to know."

So there we were. Mercenaries of the United States government. He took us to a landing strip. "You'll get to meet the rest of the team later. You need a change of clothes." He handed me some black army stuff and boots. I went to find a bathroom. When I did, I turned to shut the door, but Victor pushed his way in before I could.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting dressed."

"Get out!" I swung the door open.

"It's not like I haven't seen…"

"OUT!" He scurried away. I shut the door and laughed quietly to myself. After we were all changed, we met Stryker outside. He was now with 5 other men. I let my eyes roam over each of them. Only one of them made me nervous. The guy that looked Asian. There was something about him that made you think he was targeting you.

One of the men, a tall one with brown hair and cute brown eyes said, "Lookit! Pretty girls! You never said they were pretty! What's your names, pretty things?"

"Shut up, Wade. Give them a break," the black man chastised. He walked forward and shook everyone's hand. "John Wraith. Pleased to meet you." I smiled. I liked this one.

A really big, blonde guy nodded at us. "Fred Dukes."

The man that John called Wade came up and shook hands heartily, but he held on longer to mine and Nesha's. "Hi, Wade Wilson. Sexiest man alive." Poor Wade had the misfortune of saying that last part while he had a hold of my hand. Victor let a growl rumble out. Wade stopped and looked at him. "Oh…sorry. Guess you're taken."

"Wade," Stryker warned.

"Sorry, sir." He backed up.

The man I didn't like coldly told us his name. "I'm Agent Zero."

"Zero?" I asked.

He glared at me. "Yeah."

A short guy came forward and dispelled the foul mood that had fallen over me. "I'm, um, Chris Bradley. I sometimes go by Bolt, but usually just Bradley." I liked him too. He was very nice. Kind of cowardly looking, but nice.

Stryker asked impatiently, "Are you all done? Can we go now?"

"Yeah," Logan said. "Where are we going?"

"Information hunting. Get on the plane." We all turned and looked at the spiffy little jet sitting at the beginning of the runway.

"Well," Wade said, "isn't that a beautiful girl?" I caught Nesha looking at him in pure adoration. I grinned. Finally. She needed someone to love.

Over the next couple months, we traveled with that team, hunting down "information". A lot of innocent people got killed in the process. I didn't like it, but I dealt with it. I got time with Victor and my newfound friends in John, Wade, and Bradley. Dukes and I got along well enough, but he kind of got on my nerves. Zero and I loathed each other. Nesha and Wade got to be very close. They were nearly inseparable. Then one day, Stryker decided he had enough information. We had to go to Lagos, Nigeria.

We all packed into the plane. The seats ran along the wall of the slim machine. I grabbed a seat between Logan and Victor. Nesha sat across from me, between Wade and John. As the plane sped up and took off, I waited for the inevitable groan from Logan. He hated flying. He hated it with a passion. I heard it, but it was very quiet. I thought, smart. Hide it while you can.

We had been flying in absolute silence for hours except for the sound of Wade sharpening a sword…constantly. He looked across at Victor and gestured at his sword. "I love this weapon more than anything else in the whole wide world. You wanna know why?"

"No," Victor muttered. I tried not to smile.

Wade went on anyway. "It's memorable. Sure, it's a little bulky and tough to get on a plane, but you whip out a couple of swords at your ex-girlfriend's wedding…they will never ever forget it." Nesha smiled widely. I leaned into my chair, smiling ever so softly.

"That's funny, Wade," Victor said. "I think you've confused me with someone who gives a shit." My grin got deeper.

Wade stared at him for a minute and continued, "Granted, it's not as intimidating as a gun, or bone claws," he nodded at me, "or the fingernails of a bag lady…" I snorted and had to cover my mouth so I wouldn't die laughing. Victor's nails slowly extended and he got a devilish grin on his face. Wade held up one of his swords. "Manicure?"

I touched Victor's arm, still fighting laughter and said, "Victor…easy."

He relaxed a little, then turned and murmured to me, "Laugh it up, fuzzy," referring to the way I had my hair in a spiky bun.

I reached up and ran my fingers through his neatly trimmed beard. "Who you calling fuzzy?" He smiled and my heart rate went up about 100 beats per minute.

Wade cut back in, "Fred got a new tattoo. I'm concerned."

Zero said, "Jesus, Fred, you just met her last night!"

Fred answered, "I love her."

Logan turned and said skeptically, "You love her after one night?"

"She's a gymnast." Bradley smiled so widely, I thought his face might split.

Stryker said, "Bradley, take her down." Apparently, Bradley's mutation allowed him to control electric energy. I think he was flying that plane all by himself…in his mind.

The plane turned sharply and headed down. Logan made a sick sounding noise. I turned and asked, "You gonna puke?"

"If we were meant to fly, we'd grow wings," he grumbled.

"Ah, don't worry, Nancy, people die more driving than flying," Zero said.

"How about from impaling?"

"Hey," John interjected. "Be nice. Or be your approximation of nice."

I leaned in close to Logan's ear and teased, "Do you need a bucket?"

"No," he groaned.

"Alright, people. Wheels down in Lagos in 5," Stryker said.

Bradley landed the plane with ease and we all trailed behind Stryker to a 12-story building that was surrounded by all kinds of protection…including a tank.

"What are we doing here?" Logan inquired.

"All in good time, Logan," Stryker answered. "Zero."

Zero walked out and into the search light. His mutation had something to do with kinetic energy and he was flying all over the place shooting everything up. When he had taken out all but the tank, he opened the gate. Victor leaned in and murmured, "You having fun yet?" in my ear. I smiled viciously as he ran through the gate and started running straight up the wall of the building, courtesy of his bag lady nails.

Stryker turned to Fred. "Fred?"

"The tank?"

"The tank."

"Yeah, I got that." Fred's mutation made his skin so dense that he could withstand almost anything. He walked right up to the gun part and looked inside. Whoever was in there tried to fire. Fred shoved his fist in the gun. The missile went right back in and exploded the tank. We all ran in. I glanced up when I heard Victor chuckle deeply from the top of the building. His incisors gleamed in the light of the fire as he grinned. I returned it, then followed the guys and Nesha inside. We all piled into an elevator and hit the button for the top floor.

We suffered through elevator music for about half of the floors, then the elevator shut down. The lights dimmed and the music died. "Damn," I said. "Right in the middle of the chorus."

Wade sighed, "Great. Stuck in and elevator with 5 guys and 2 girls on a high protein diet."

"Oh, Wade," Stryker muttered.

"Dreams really do come true."

"Just shut it! You're up next."

"Thank you, sir. You look really nice today. It's the green. It brings out the seriousness in your eyes."

"My God, do you ever shut up, pal?" I asked, incredulous.

"No. Not when I'm awake."

I turned and looked at him. "Is that an invitation?"

He smiled broadly, but said nothing. I saw Nesha glance at me quite hostilely. I just shook my head. Stryker said, "Bradley, top floor, please." Bradley nodded and concentrated. The lights came back on and we got moving again.

When we reached the top, Wade sighed, "Time to go to work." We all backed against the sides of the elevator to avoid gunshots. The doors dinged open and Wade flew out waving his swords in an almost invisible blur. I had no idea what exactly his mutation was, but speed was part of it. He blocked every bullet and even sliced one in half that killed two other guys by ricochet. He then flew through the air and landed, running the last two guys through. He then turned and called, "Okay! People are dead!"

We all filed out of the elevator and Stryker said, "If you didn't have that mouth on you, Wade, you'd be the perfect soldier." Wade half-assed a salute and then fell back with the rest of us. I silently observed how he went right to Nesha's side. Stryker walked up to the head man behind the desk.

The man said, "Take the diamonds. They're yours."

"I don't want your diamonds. I want this." He picked up a silver stone that was on the man's desk.

"That? That is nothing. A souvenir."

"Where did you find it? I want the source."

"A small village. Far inland. 3 days from here."

"Where?" The man showed him on a map. Stryker nodded his thanks and turned around. "Let's go. We're done here." I let my eyes wander to the strange metal-like stuff in his hands. What was it?

We made our way back outside. For the first time in years, I jumped when Victor landed with a thud behind me. I hadn't heard him coming. Usually he was as loud as an elephant in a jungle. He caught up to me and quietly asked, "Did we get it?"

"Get what?" I whispered back. "What is that?"

"I dunno! How should I know?"

"You acted like you knew."

"Oh, so what? You expect me to know everything?"

"Are we about to get into a fight over this, because if we are, this makes the record for the pettiest."

"Can we? I'd rather like the making up part right now."

I scoffed, "Is that all you ever think about?"

"Pretty much, yeah." We all piled back onto our plane and took off again. We landed in the larger town that was outside the village Stryker had been told about, then we made out way to the village on foot.

We busted in there, scaring half the people to death. Stryker made them all gather in the center of town and get on their knees with their hands behind their head. I was totally uncomfortable with this. Wade apparently spoke the language…I have no idea why…so he found the leader and served as translator.

Stryker held out the stone we had claimed and said, "Tell him that his rock is more valuable to me than his life. Ask him where he found it." Wade translated the message. The man said something back.

Wade said, "He says it came from the sky."

I looked around. Tension was very high. I could smell no lies on the man when he spoke so I said, "He's telling the truth."

"You don't speak the language, Elena," Stryker said.

"So? It's a meteor fragment."

"I know what it is. I'm asking him where he found it!"

Bradley called, "Sir, base wants to know our location."

"Shut them down."

"Yes, sir."

I shook my head, puzzled. Why couldn't base know where we were? What was Stryker hiding? He said, "Tell him everyone here will die, unless he tells me where he found the rock." My eyes hardened. This was not necessary. Victor met my gaze and halfway grinned.

Wade transferred the message. The guy answered. Wade said, "He says it's sacred."

Stryker sighed. "Fine. Victor." My temper flared. No way. Victor looked up at me for a second. I shook my head. He ignored me and snapped the guy's neck, smiling as he did it.

Everything went haywire. All the people started running, Zero started shooting, Wade started slicing, Victor slashing, everyone was shouting. Logan ran over and took out Zero. I punched Wade square in the jaw. It knocked him off balance enough to suit me. Victor grabbed a guy and prepared to claw his guts out. I yelled, "Victor!" I jumped up and superhumanly sped across the space and grabbed hold of his free arm. Everything froze. Victor's head reared around to glare at me. "Don't even think about it," I hissed. "We didn't sign up for this! Put him down." Victor reluctantly released the man and yanked his arm from my grip. Everyone's eyes were trained on us.

"What are you doing?" he whispered. "We finally got a good thing goin' here. Don't you screw this up."

I shook my head. "Enough. We've done enough."

"Who do you think you are?" he demanded. I glared up at him. "This is what we do. Maybe you'd rather be rotting in a hole somewhere till they figure out how to do it to us. Is that it? Huh?"

My rage was boiling within me. I couldn't stay here anymore. "I'm done," I stated. I smelled the acceptance on Logan. "We're done," I amended. "You coming?" Victor stared at me as if I had smacked him. I pleaded with my eyes for him to come, but I couldn't just stand there any longer. I turned and started walking away. Logan followed. I looked over at Nesha. She shook her head. That was fine with me. She had Wade to look out for her now. She didn't need me.

Victor cried, "Elena!" I froze and slowly turned around. I wanted to kill myself simply because of the look on his face. "We can't just let you walk away," he said huskily. Shakily, I pulled my dogtags off and threw them to the ground. I guess Logan liked that idea because he did the same.

I turned and started walking again. I said as quietly as I could, "Logan, pull me."

"What?"

"Hold onto my arm, or I'm going to go running back there." He did.

Victor yelled, "Elena!! Jimmy!!"

"Pull, Logan," I pleaded. Everything in my body begged me to go back. Begged me to run into Victor's arms and say just kidding. We faded into the blackness of the jungle around us as Victor's last cries were blotted out by thunder and a flash of lightning.