August 27, 1974
"Is that all you've got?"
Lance looked up at Lorna, wiping his lip. She crossed her arms and cocked her head. In the two weeks that she'd been training her team, she'd learned a thing or two about them. Lance was the most likely to keep charging at his target. It was both brave and stupid, something that she wanted to reinforce in him.
"Is that all you've got?" she repeated.
Looking angry Lance got back to his feet. Lorna smiled and Tabby cheered from her place on the sidelines. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Toad looked excited too, but Senyaka was impassive. He was having more trouble than the others at cooperating as a team, but she had hopes that it would come in time.
At least Toad and Tabby were standing by their fellow teammate. Lorna turned her attention back to Lance.
"Good," she said, "You got back up."
He lifted up his foot to stomp it, but Lorna stopped it by kicking him in the chest. He tumbled onto his back and Lorna placed her foot on his sternum, her toes lightly brushing his throat. Tabby's cheers grew silent and she saw Toad's excitement fade. Lorna removed her foot and took a step back.
"But sometimes that doesn't help like it should," Lorna said.
Lance sighed and got back up. She looked him over. He had bruises on his arms and chests, but she hadn't drawn blood. She didn't want to overdo it.
"When you can't do something yourself," Lorna said, "Don't be afraid to call your teammates in."
"We're allowed to do that during training?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Never know until you try," Lorna said.
"Okay," Lance said.
He wiped his lip again and gave her a strange look. It made Lorna uncomfortable. She tilted her head to the side.
"Something you want?" she asked.
"Lots of things," he said, "Not right now though."
He moved off of the mats and stood by Tabby. She looked up at Lorna, her expression nervous.
"Your turn Boom-Boom," she said.
Tabby sighed and got onto the mats. There was something in her posture that made Lorna frown.
"Have you done your exercises?" she asked.
Tabby scrunched her eyebrows for a moment before sighing.
"No," she said.
Lorna rubbed her temples.
"I'm glad you didn't lie to me," she said.
Tabby brightened.
"But I'm also pissed that you didn't listen," Lorna said.
She put her hands on her hips and let her eyes trail from Tabby to the rest of them.
"Listen up," she said, "You're all on probationary status right now. None of you have been cleared for field work, and you're not going to be cleared until I endorse you. And I'm not endorsing you until I'm satisfied that you're not going to go out and get yourselves killed in the first five minutes of a fight."
She tilted her chin.
"And right now, I'm only satisfied that you'll last two minutes," Lorna said, "I'm not having your blood on my conscience, do you understand?"
There were a few nods.
"So I suggest you all start taking this seriously," Lorna said, "I suggest that you learn to work together, and you learn to do so quickly."
She stepped back.
"I'm not sparring with you today," she said.
Tabby looked surprised.
"I'd wipe the floor with you," Lorna said.
She saw Tabby's face fall, but Lorna didn't know how else to put it. She shook her head.
"Do your exercises, and we'll talk tomorrow," Lorna said, "Like I said, you need to take this seriously if you don't want to spend the rest of your life relegated to breaking codes when you can be fighting for our cause."
Tabby swallowed, looking uncomfortable. Lorna wished that she could dial it back, but she had to learn.
"All of you, take three laps around the inside wall. Boom-Boom, take five," Lorna said.
Tabby didn't look at her as she stepped off the mats. Lance cocked his head as he followed her out. Toad just sighed as Senyaka followed. Lorna waited until they were out of the room to let out the breath that she was holding. She rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes.
"Well, that went well."
She looked over her shoulder. Mystique stepped into the practice room, her lips turned up in amusement. Lorna looked at her, wary. Ever since Azazel's death the two had kept their distance from each other. She knew that Mystique blamed her for Azazel's death. Lorna had been over that night a million times in her head while she'd been imprisoned by Black Tom, and she knew that there was nothing that she could have done though.
She had come to terms with that. Mystique hadn't.
"You know, new team," Lorna said.
"Poor leadership," Mystique said.
Lorna rubbed her temples.
"I'm not getting into this right now," Lorna said.
"It's not like you have anything better to do," Mystique said.
"Anything is better," Lorna said."
Mystique laughed.
"You really think you're above all of this, don't you?" she asked.
"Above what?"
"Above fighting with team members."
Lorna pursed her lips.
"No," she said, "But I am above fighting with a grief-stricken woman who's only response to her pain is to pick a fight."
She looked over at Mystique who stared at her with wide, angry eyes.
"Hate me if you want," Lorna said, "I don't mind that. You need someone to be the scapegoat and it might as well be me. We've never really gotten along. But for God's sake do it with a little more subtlety."
"Why, am I hurting your feelings?" Mystique sneered.
"No, because my father won't tolerate it," Lorna said.
She realized she'd said the wrong thing as Mystique's eyes narrowed.
"I'm so sorry about disturbing Daddy's girl," she said.
Lorna caught Mystique's fist as it came around. She leaned in, her teeth gritted together. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Angel start to come in, no doubt ready for her afternoon exercise. She stopped when she saw the two of them and edged out of the room. Lorna was glad. She could handle this.
"Think real hard Mystique," Lorna said, "Think about if this is what you want."
She let go of Mystique's arm, shoving her away from her. She turned around, listening to see if Mystique would try to follow her, if her words had any impact at all.
"You're just collateral damage in the grand scheme of things!" Mystique screamed, "You don't matter!"
Lorna continued walking , once she had gone a few hallways down, pinched her nose. Her body was trembling and she had to take deep breaths. Alex's words echoed in her mind.
"Do you know what collateral damage really is?"
"Not now Scholastic," she murmured.
His words continued to echo in her ears.
"It's destroyed lives and caused unaccountable anguish that could have been spared if more care had been taken. And because we take that care we can avoid collateral damage. Anyone who doesn't uses it as their own personal shield against their guilt, not caring when the world burns if it gives them what they want."
She shook her head one more time before she walked down the hall, continuing to take deep breaths.
"I'm not some errant school girl that you can just call in like this!"
Erik glared at Mystique, one of his hands clenched into a fist by his side.
"You tried to attack my daughter," he said.
Mystique laughed, the sound bitter.
"I wonder, just when did Angel stop being my friend and turn into Lorna's nanny?" she asked.
"She's not her nanny."
"Really? She certainly acts like it, reporting anyone who hurts little Lorna's feelings to her father," Mystique said.
Erik clenched his teeth. There had been two people in the Brotherhood that he had trusted Lorna with. One was Azazel, and the other was Angel. He knew that they had both cared very much about what happened to her from the moment they had both seen her, Azazel seeing her as a representation of the next generation and Angel as a girl whose life should have been different.
He had never fully trusted Mystique with her.
"Unlike you, Angel believes that it is wrong to try to harm people for no reason," he said.
"Angel's enthralled by Lorna, treats her like she's her pet," Mystique said, "So do you."
"Lorna is a strong individual, strong enough to take abuse from you and then shrug it off," Erik said, "She didn't even want me to be angry at you when you attacked her months ago."
Mystique snorted. Erik shook his head. He'd been unable to have a full conversation with his former lover in almost eleven years. She had never wanted to talk to him. He'd understood: the termination of their relationship had been quick, sudden, and he was aware that it had also been rather brutal.
However, part of him didn't see how else it could be handled. Lorna had come into his care, a shell-shocked child with amazing abilities. He was the only one that she had in a world that had, in the past few weeks become a nightmare for her. Her mother was gone and any friends had turned against her.
As for Erik, she was the surprise of his life. He'd never thought that he would see Susanna again. In some of his stranger dreams he had envisioned seeing her in a comfortable home with brilliant children and an adoring husband. It was a life that she deserved and a life that he'd known he would never be able to give her.
Instead he'd found her living on the brink of poverty in a rented shack with one daughter and everything against them. He'd been too late to help her though, far, far too late. Then there was Lorna, a child named after his own mother. He would never be able to make up for what she had lost. However, he knew that he could do right by her.
Asking Mystique to act as a surrogate mother to the child of the only woman he'd ever loved was wrong though. Mystique had never wanted children, and he knew that Azazel'd had that conversation with her many times. She had also been suspect of Erik's affections, a correct suspicion it was proved, and hadn't wanted that responsibility.
So he had ended it. He should have never let it begin. However, he knew that Mystique had been hurt and disliked Lorna ever since. Now she was blaming her for the death of the man that had trained and mentored Lorna. Azazel's affection for Lorna was probably just another insult.
Erik was done trying to fathom what went on in Mystique's mind though. He was through trying to be understanding. Lorna had been in danger from many things in the past, from humans to Black Tom and the X-men. He would not have his daughter under threat from his own soldiers though.
"If this continues," he said, "You can leave."
Mystique's lip curled into a snarl, but Erik held her gaze. He would be sad to see Mystique go if that was what she chose. She had always been a good soldier and tactician. However, his daughter meant more to him than she did. It was why their relationship had ended in the first place.
"If you need time to mourn, then go and take it," Erik said, "Tell me a period of time and go. Come back if you want. But whether you go and come back or stay, I will not permit this."
Mystique's golden eyes bored into his own, but she should have known better than to try and stare him down. She looked away, her lip still curled.
"I want two weeks," she said.
"Two weeks," Erik said, "That's reasonable. Will you be leaving immediately or-?"
"Immediately," Mystique snapped.
She turned away and walked out of the room, the door slamming behind her.