"Enemies make you stronger, allies make you weaker."
[xxxxx]
Chapter 5: The Superiors Make New Friends
When the elevator reached the desired floor, there were unfamiliar voices coming from the next room that she felt had something to do with the mysterious man that stood to her right. Quicksilver stepped out of the elevator first, but Albino listened to the mumbled voices for a moment.
He turned back to face her. "Are you coming?" He whispered, as if not to disturb the voices. "Or are you chicken?"
Without at word she stepped forward and followed Quicksilver into the next room. Out of instinct, she grabbed onto his hand and though he looked at her a little funny, he didn't say anything.
As they turned the corner into the living room, Albino laid her eyes on the owners of those unfamiliar voices.
There were seven people sitting about the couches and recliners, three of which were the rest of the Superiors, and the remaining four were strangers, but obviously mutants.
The one talking was an older man that sat in the large chair that was usually reserved for Camouflage. He was dressed in red and purple robes, and had an oddly-shaped helmet cradled in his lap. Although she could only see half of his face, the man was quite handsome, and of obvious relation to Quicksilver. He spoke sternly and with authority, and Albino guessed that he was the leader of these four strangers.
The second was a woman, very odd in appearance. She stood next to the leader, and wore a loose white dress that didn't cover up much of her blue, scaly skin. She was the only one that seemed to take notice of Albino and Quicksilver as they entered, her yellow reptilian eyes scanning over her with interest. Her pin-straight hair was a striking red, and barely touched her shoulders.
The third was a boy that looked about in his late teens that lounged on the end of a couch, next to Panther and Hawkeye. He continuously fiddled with a small silver zippo lighter, but it was quickly snatched out of his hands by the fourth stranger.
She stood behind the couch with her arms crossed, the zippo lighter clenched in her fist. She had dark brown, curly hair that looked unkempt and bright blue eyes. She wore her outfit was a dark red leather trench coat that seemed to be fitted to her body. Covering her feet were a pair of black combat boots on top of mismatching striped socks.
Quicksilver lead her to the only available seats - an open couch that seemed to be reserved for them. She let go of his hand once they sat down and scooted away, hoping no one had noticed.
"We plan to be ready within a week. Any objections?" The leader with the helmet in his hands said, looking out amongst the other mutants.
Albino was confused, but she didn't say anything.
"But how can you be sure that the X-Men have her?" Panther asked. It was so like her to question things. "Perhaps you mistook another mutant-"
"One of my team members went undercover as a student at the institute just to confirm our suspicions. I can assure you, my dear, that we have found her."
"You've found Control?" Albino whispered to Quicksilver beside her, making sure not to interrupt the conversation.
"We have. I'll explain everything to you afterward." He whispered back.
After a bit more talk, Panther made some tea for everyone while the mysterious red and purple leader and Camouflage disappeared into Control's office. The combat-boot girl, the blue scaly lady and Panther all talked in the kitchen while Hawkeye, the creepy flame-boy and Quicksilver saddled up to start a game of Clue.
Not wishing to join either party, Albino slipped out of the room and was just about to step into the elevator when Quicksilver abruptly appeared in from of her. She was confused about his sudden presence for a moment, but then smirked. "Lemme guess - teleporter?"
He smirked back. "Close... super speed." He let her pass him to the elevator, but followed her in.
"That would explain the name, then." she said as the elevator jerked upward, toward her bedroom.
"So," Quicksilver said in a chipper tone. "What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"Of everything. Of the plan, of the team... of our extremely impressive tracking skills." He said the last bit with some hint of sarcasm.
"I think I'm utterly confused." She admitted simply. The old elevator shuttered to a stop and Albino pulled the cage door open. The room they stepped into looked like an abandoned office space. It was mostly barren, cement support beams taking up most of the room. Two lonely mattresses were stacked one on top of the other in the middle of the room, many pillows and blankets scattered on top. Surrounding the makeshift bed was a dresser, a full length mirror and a floor lamp that gave off weak lighting. Secluded to the right was a couch, a television and a coffee table, all of which looked to be unused. To the left was a desk and a chair that seemed to be the most popularly used space in the room.
"Whoa," Quicksilver commented as she led him inside. "You've got the whole floor to yourself. Nice."
"Everybody has their own floor. It's a pretty big warehouse." She led him to the couch, where they both sat down. "So," Albino said. "De-confuse me."
"Well," He started, and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. "You know who that man downstairs was, don't you? The one that was talking about the plan?"
"No. I didn't recognize him at all." Albino furrowed her brow. "Should I have?"
"If you didn't recognize him, you'd at least have to have heard of him." He paused. "That man was Magneto."
At first, Albino just stared at him. "That... downstairs... that man... was Magneto?" She asked disbelievingly.
He knew the question was rhetorical, but Quicksilver nodded anyway.
Still, she stared at him blankly. "You sure we're talking about the same Magneto here? Master of magnetism, the main mutant man? All those M words you can have so much fun with?"
Quicksilver raised an eyebrow. "You may want to rethink that line."
Albino continued on. "But... Magneto's..." She took a breath. "After he lost his powers, Magneto fell off the face of the earth. I mean... he's human now. Why is he back dealing with mutants?"
He leaned in closer to her and smiled. "Albino, babe... He never lost his powers."
"What?"
"Sure, maybe he lost them for a few months, but now he's got his mojo back and he's more powerful than ever." He talked in a low, hushed voice that managed to still sound excited.
Albino found herself holding Quicksilver's hand again, but this time she didn't let go. "So, the cure doesn't work."
He smiled. "That's right. Well, it does work for a few months, but after that, it only makes us stronger."
She also smiled. Since the second stage of her mutation - since her skin turned white and her eyes turned red, Albino always feared being cured by some crazy anti-mutant hate group, but now all of her fears were wiped away. "That's wonderful." She said at last, still smiling.
"Now, don't get distracted, babe." Quicksilver said, bringer her attention back to him. "Now, Magneto's got a little plan cooked up for rescuing you're leader, whatsername..."
"Control." Albino answered.
"Right... Control. Well, he's got a plan, and it's gonna take a lot of teamwork but not much sole effort on our part. Now listen here..."
[xxxxx]
By the time she understood this 'little' plan that Magneto had for them, Albino was exhausted. She slouched over the coffee table and massaged her aching temples while Quicksilver drew up a map of Xavier Institute's main grounds on the side of a Campbell's soup ad in her Good Housekeeping magazine.
"Why do you even own this magazine?" Quicksilver asked as he continued to draw his rough sketch of the mansion.
"I dunno..." Albino grumbled, and yawned. "Prob'ly came free in the mail. 'Sides, I like to look at the nice houses. Reminds me of Mackinac Island."
"Here we are." Quicksilver said once he was finished with the sketch. Albino lifted herself from the floor and sat down next to him on the couch. "Okay, so here's where we enter from. We'll cross at exactly this point so that the intruder alarms don't -"
"Quicksilver..." Albino sighed. "It's three a.m., I'm exhausted and I don't sleep well. There is no way I'm going to understand any of this, let alone remember it all. Can't we just pick this up tomorrow?"
He looked at her for a moment, then shut the magazine and threw it down on the coffee table. "Of course."
She smiled. "Thank you." She said with a sigh of relief.
"On one condition." He added, his tone serious.
"Anything," She exhaled. "As long as there's no more of this strategic planning torture."
He drew closer to her. "Sleep with me tonight."
"What!" She exclaimed, and stood up. "I barely know you!" Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared, as they always did when she was angry.
"Oh, c'mon..." Quicksilver grumbled and also stood. He towered over her. "You've been coming on to me the whole night. Holding my hand, whispering in my ear, brushing your hair against me ever so gently... the list goes on."
Albino scoffed. "Okay, the hand-holding thing was a bit flirty, but I was whispering because I didn't feel like asking dumb questions in front of total strangers. And I did not brush my hair against you."
"Oh, just admit it." She said, rolling his eyes at her dramatic reaction. "You want me. You want me in your bed, grinding into your hips while you can only run your hands through my hair and beg for more. You-"
"Stop right there." She said softly. She stepped forward so that she was right up against him, looking up into his deep blue eyes with a blank expression. "Get out!" She screamed abruptly, startling him and even herself.
Without words, Quicksilver was gone in a gush of wind, and the sound of the cage elevator was the last thing to be heard of him. Albino, exhausted, collapsed onto her bed, not realizing what she'd have to deal with in the morning.
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