Disclaimer: AU to X3! Not making any money from this. Corrinth owns Stifle and Vixen, Blaze and Shockwave are mine, Marvel retains all rights to all other characters, all knowledge of US military comes from watching Stargate SG1!
Above and Beyond: Scene 15A small group of GRSO men surrounded Blaze on the deck, running to avenge their dead leader. Blaze turned around from where she had been squinting through the rain to look where Kincaid had landed. There was a medley of clicks as the safeties were taken off the men's weapons. Blaze raised one eyebrow, pouted and formed a fireball in each fist. She only spoke one word of warning, "Don't." Without waiting to see if they heeded her, Blaze walked forward and passed between them. Not one of them tried to stop her. Barefooted she made her way to the bridge, where she was confused by Gambit and Mystique's absence. Xavier then gave her a brief telepathic nudge in the right direction, clarifying the situation.
Exiting the bridge, Blaze took a left and went down the corridor about a hundred metres. Descending a flight of steel steps she turned back on herself and ducked underneath them. Everything was quiet, apart from the creaking of the ship as it slid slightly sideways in its crater. Blaze suspected that the GRSO troops would be attempting to destroy the evidence of their crimes. Good luck to them, she thought grimly, they'll need it after this. Her hand found a door handle, which she tugged at. It opened outwards to reveal Gambit and Mystique in very close companionship in a tiny enclosed space. Blaze just blinked at them for a moment, before deciding, "I don't want to know."
She turned her back and started to walk away. Gambit called her name, and then dutifully trotted after her when she didn't respond. Only when he caught her up and started to insist that she had an overactive imagination did Blaze start to giggle uncontrollably. "Honestly Remy, the look on your face when I opened the door! Caught red handed in a cupboard with Mystique. Where's Logan when you need him to come up with a one liner?"
"You dare mention dat to anyone Cherie, I swear I…"
"You'll what?" Blaze giggled, tugging playfully on his trench coat sleeve to get him to stop and turn to her. "What will you do?"
"I don't know, but I'll t'ink of somet'ing Petite," Remy grumbled, brushing his hair out of his eyes with his palm. "Your uniform leavin' too much to the imagination for you?" He indicated to her slashed garment, a twinkle in his eye.
"This isn't half as bad as walking around with no boots," Blaze grumbled, tugging her uniform closed as much as she could across her chest. "My feet are so cold they are numb. I could stand in anything and not feel it."
"Nice t'ought," Remy grimaced, "How we gonna get outta here anyway?"
"Not a clue," Blaze chirruped cheerfully, "The place is swarming with police and there's no way down from the deck."
#Get to the deck and I'll airlift you out,# the Professor offered politely in both of their heads.
"#Air lift?#" asked Blaze as Gambit exclaimed "#You got the jet?#"
#Indeed,# Charles replied, #I'll see you both in two minutes.#
"Tres bon!" Gambit laughed, grabbing Blaze by the arm and coaxing her to run with him to the deck. "Time to go home, eh Cherie?"
"Absolutely," agreed Blaze, "And about time too."
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Mystique let Gambit and Blaze depart, before slinking from her hidey-hole back into the open. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she blinked her yellow eyes rapidly twice, and then strode in the direction of the deck. She had known him long enough by now that she could feel the tingling in the air grow as he approached. The ship groaned as the magnetic fields in the plate metal realigned themselves to propel him through the air. As Mystique arrived on deck, Magneto was just despatching the remaining few GRSO troops, flinging them to the ground far below. Mystique winced despite herself as the men's screams were silenced with a loud soggy crunch. Steeling herself she joined Magneto by the edge of the deck, and looked down on the chaos he had created out of her plan. They did such beautiful work together. But wait, all was not right…
"What's wrong with the television crews? Why aren't any of them shooting this?" Mystique demanded sharply.
"A chronic case of magnetic interference," Magneto replied with a cautious smile.
"Why?" Mystique argued, "Do you think I brought the ship in for the good of my health? We have to show the mutants of the world that humans deserve our hatred!"
"My dear your own eagerness blinds you," Magneto lectured, "All you would have shown would have been imaged of mutants beaten, unconscious and even dead. As a species, all that would do is embarrass us, prove that we are fallible and cause great humiliation. No," he looked back out over the crowd with a regal haughtiness to his face and posture. "People the world over will learn of this catastrophe, but they will not be treated to a gory parade of mutants leaving this vessel in various stages of death and decay like some freak show or horror film. Patience, after all, is a virtue."
"You're starting to sound like Xavier," grumbled the changeling. In response, Magneto pinned her with an angry glare. Mystique flinched, she had overstepped the line and she knew it. Somewhat appeased by her fearful reaction, Magneto offered her a hand, which she took. Magneto created a disk underneath the two of them out of the ship's deck. He used it to propel them upward and away, just as four FBI agents in padded bulletproof jackets and sporting handguns charged onto the deck shouting, "Everybody freeze!"