A/N: College finals and a summer job hunt meant a long delay, but wait no more! Both Hurricane and my second editor were busy, though, so this chapter may be edited. Also, this chapter marks the end of a long setup and exposition, and as of July 19, 2013, these first nine chapters have been edited.
Scout felt a lump form in her throat as she stared at the man in front of her. This was Magneto, the leader of the Brotherhood. Scout struggled to keep a smile on her face and clenched her hands into fists to stop their shaking. It didn't help that Magneto stood head and shoulders above her.
"If you leave the door open for much longer," Magneto said with a small smile and stepping into the house, "mosquitoes will rush in."
Scout rushed to slam the door shut. In the dining room, Scout heard a rush of activity as eating utensils clanged together and cabinets opened and shut. Walking over, she saw the same Pietro who refused to help her that afternoon scrambling to set up a seat for his father and make the area presentable as he picked up bits of litter and dumped them in the garbage. The others were either looking at the scramble with mild amusement or staring at Magneto. To Scout's surprise and delight, Wanda seemed to have a small, warm smile on her lips.
"I apologize for the short notice, but I wanted to check in," said Magneto. "It seems you have a new member."
Lance sighed and got up with an irritated slump in shoulders. "Magneto, this is Scout, our medic," he said, point his hand towards Scout. He then turned his head towards her with a small scowl on his face. "Scout, this is Magneto our..." he paused, gritting his teeth, finally saying, "leader." There was a trace of venom in his voice, and as he made his way back to his seat at the dinner table, Scout remembered their previous conversations about Magneto and being used.
Nonetheless, so far Magneto seemed to be authoritative but kind. Scout turned toward the man and held out her hand, her smile becoming more relaxed. "Pleased to meet you, Magneto. They tell me (um) great things about you." Her smile twitched a bit when Lance coughed.
Magneto's only response to the slight was to sigh before resuming his reserved smile, which made the resemblance between him and Wanda stand out much more. He shook Scout's hand and said, "You seem rather young to be practicing medicine."
Releasing the handshake, Scout held up her hand and allowed thin needles of bone to protrude from her fingertips. "My mutation makes it pretty easy," she said. Magneto glanced in surprise at the show of her powers, then nodded as his smile grew broader. Out of pride, perhaps? The possibility was exciting, even as a voice in the back of her mind screamed that he was a terrorist. Scout retook her place next to Wanda and Magneto sat between Lance and Pietro.
"Not getting the Acolytes back together, are ya?" asked John through a mouthful of food. "It's pretty relaxing right here."
Magneto shook his head and helped himself to a serving of soup. "After Apocalypse, open conflict will not work in our favor," he explained.
"Works for me!" John grinned, showcasing all the food stuck in his teeth.
"How did you end up recruiting a medic?" Magneto asked Lance.
Lance's mouth was full, so he glanced at Scout. They took me in because I was cold. Because I was starving? Because I can't remember anything that happened? She decided on honesty and said, "I woke up in the woods outside with amnesia, but I found out about my powers with this." She took out her silver pendant and displayed the screen. "I ended up in here because it was getting dark and I needed a place to sleep."
"And we let her in cause she can patch us up like magic," added Fred.
Scout smiled. "Thanks!"
Magneto frowned. "May I see your necklace?" he asked.
Scout looked to Lance. His jaw clenched, but he nodded. Scout gave Magneto her pendant, and he switched the screen off and on again.
"I have never seen a device like this," Magneto said. As his fingers brushed the screen, it waved and changed to display a white bar. A holographic keyboard formed under the screen.
"Give it back!" cried Scout, jumping out of her seat. Magneto barely loosened his grip when Scout snatched it out of his hands. Hands shaking, she tried to think of something she would use as a password.
Scout
The white bar flashed red and erased her entry.
Letmein
Red.
password
Red.
password1
"Scout, are you okay?" asked Wanda. "You don't have to keep smiling if-"
Scout slumped back into her chair. "I can't get to my memory unless I remember my password." She shook her head. "I don't know why I even got excited."
The others stared at the pendant. "If Magneto hasn't seen this kind of thing," chimed Pyro, "makes me really want you to get your memories back."
Scout's eyes widened. "Oh no," she whispered. "What if I'm a secret weapon, and the moment I get my powers back my programming kicks in and I-"
"Scout," Lance said. "Calm down."
"But what if?" Scout continued. "I could kill you all or-"
"You won't," drawled Pietro, casually eating his dinner. "I'd take you down before you could blink."
Scout's witty retort died when her stomach growled loudly. She heard Toad snicker and her smile twisted when she saw Pietro smirk at her. As her face grew hot, she stuffed her mouth full of spaghetti in the hopes that nobody would talk to her.
"Have you all been keeping up with politics?" asked Magneto.
Lance shrugged. "Kelly's probably going to win, even with the whole mutants defeating Apocalypse."
Magneto looked solemn. "Him and his brother both."
Some were surprised to learn that Edward had a brother, so Magneto filled them in. Robert Kelly, a senator, was more moderate than his brother, but he still wanted mutants monitored, running on a platform of mutant registration and control for the safety of both mutants and humans.
Something sparked in the back of Scout's mind when Magneto said control. "What does he want? Just a list of names so everybody knows?"
Magneto seemed to scan her even as he maintained eye contact. "He's been very vague, but so far a national registration is the only concrete thing he's suggested."
"What about the Sentinels?" asked Scout.
Magneto's eyes narrowed and he took a long drink of water. "They've been shut down again," he said, but then with added venom, "as far as the we know."
The wheels in Scout's head began turning, and she set down her fork to collect her thoughts, her eyes darting back and forth.
"Scout?" Lance asked. "What's the matter?"
"Senator Kelly may just want a national registration, but what of the other congressmen? All of them are baseline human as far as we can tell-"
"It'd be funny if one of them just mutated on the floor," giggled Toad.
"-and they answer to baseline voters. The national registration could easily become something more invasive. They could contract the same people who made the Sentinels to make mutation dampener collars or something and require that registered mutants wear them in public to make sure their powers don't kill someone-"
"And leave them defenseless when others notice the collar?" snarled Wanda.
"Hey, the laws would probably be for baselines, not mutants," said Scout. "At the extreme, they might even end up developing a cure for the X-gene that all infants are required to-"
"I will never let that happen," Magneto said in a low, steely tone. "I will not let mutants die out."
"This does sound scary," mumbled Fred, "but considering how bad our Kelly is..."
"How can you be so sure of what Congress will do?" asked John.
"I'm not sure," Scout shook her head. "I just know enough about human nature to guess what will happen." She cleaned off the last few strands of spaghetti from her plate, and it felt flavorless in her mouth.
"Kid," said Pietro, "you're talking about stuff that's way in the-" He stopped, and his eyes shifted towards Scout's silver pendant.
Scout noticed his gaze and her heart almost stopped. Bringing up the screen, she gazed at the information available. "This gives my picture, my name (if it's my real name) and my powers," she murmured. "It's all anyone without the password would know about me." She then flexed her hand and made a few needles poke out of her skin. "But I can still use my powers when I'm wearing it, so it's not a dampener, just a... a..."
"A tag," finished Fred, "like they put on animals."
A firm hand landed on her shoulder, and Magneto spoke to her not unkindly, "It seems you may not be a weapon, but a warning. We need to find out who made that necklace and who sent you," Magneto said, getting out of his chair. "Where did you first wake up?"
"What do you mean by who sent me?" Scout's voice became rapid. "Does this mean I'm going to-"
"You're not going to kill us all Scout," interrupted Lance with exasperation. "If you're worried about it, you probably won't."
"Emphasis on probably," jeered Pietro.
"What happened to you definitely being able to stop me?" Scout shot back.
Pietro's jaw opened but nothing came out, and Fred, Toad, and John all burst into laughter. Pietro gave a pleading look to his sister, who gave a small smile and a light pat on the shoulder.
Leaving their dishes in the sink, Scout led Magneto outside to show him the clearing. She sat and stretched across the grass. "I woke up lying down like this, with these clothes on my back," she explained.
Magneto glanced around then held out his arms. Scout felt a tugging at her chest, and her necklace was floating outward. Magneto paused at that and motioned for her to stand closer to him. After she did, he resumed scanning the area for metallic materials, this time without affecting her as much. The clearing seemed to tremble a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary revealed itself.
"Is there anything else you woke up with?" Magneto asked her.
"Eskrima sticks with the number 122,112 carved on them," Scout answered. "I also found a baseball when I searched through here, but I think it might be Toad's."
They hurried back inside before mosquitoes made a meal out of Magneto and Scout showed him the Eskrima sticks. "These seem rather dense for wood," he observed. He set the sticks on the floor and attempted to use his powers to pick them up, but nothing happened. His picked them up and brushed his fingers over the numbers. "I'll see what I can find from this number."
"What? You don't have to-"
"It may be important to the future safety of mutants," Magneto insisted. "Besides, what if it helps you remember who you are?"
Considering that she was tagged "like an animal" and possibly dangerous, Scout wasn't sure if she wanted to remember anymore, and all she could do was smile like always at Magneto. He patted her shoulder and said, "You are a valuable addition to the Brotherhood. Good night."
"Good night, sir."
Magneto stepped out of her room, and Scout shut the door. Her body felt exhausted, but now her mind was restless with conflict. If she got her memories back, she could go home, but what if the boarding house was the better home? What kind of home tagged and tracked her? She wasn't even sure if it was a tracker, but she couldn't know for sure unless she could remember the password!
She felt trapped, and even with the Brotherhood just one floor below, she felt alone.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping at her window.
Hector's miasma batted away mosquitoes and clung to the side of the house. If the Brotherhood didn't even have lasers blocking the entrance, no wonder the X-Men ran roughshod over them.
Scout stared through the window at him, and in response he smiled and gave a small wave of his hand. The moment she opened the window, he asked, "May I come in?"
The buzzing insects outside were all Scout needed. She quickly pulled Hector into her room. As his miasma slipped underneath his clothes, she slammed the window shut.
"Scout?" Lance called from below. "Is something wrong? I heard a slam."
Using his miasma so he wouldn't make noisy footsteps, Hector ran and dove behind Scout's bed. He needn't have worried, as Scout replied, "Nothing's wrong. Bugs."
"All right."
Scout waited for footsteps going up the stairs and towards her room, but when nothing happened she sat down next to Hector. "I wasn't expecting you," she said.
Hector stared straight ahead, his heart thumping. He had nothing to fear.
"Hector?"
Lance was not his enemy now. In fact, Lance seemed to like him.
A hand rested on Hector's face and he jumped.
"What's wrong?" asked Scout, scanning his face.
Hector pushed her hand away and shook his head. "Just a bit nervous about Lance finding me here, that's all," he explained, turning to face her but keeping his head low. "I'm not supposed to be here."
Scout laughed quietly. "How did you get out of the mansion?" she whispered.
"I told Ms. Munroe I was taking a walk after dinner," Hector said. "I just have to be back before midnight curfew." He leaned in closer to her. "I saw you and Magneto in the woods. What's all that about?"
Scout grit her teeth. "It's... it's complicated."
"Try me," Hector dared. When Scout hesitated, he softened his voice. "I'd really like to help you."
So Scout told him. She told him all about how she woke up, how nice the Brotherhood was, her Eskrima sticks, and when she showed him her pendant and the screen, her voice began to choke up and she had to pause for a deep breath. She wouldn't dare cry in front of him, not when his eyes were so focused on her, and her perpetual smile remained on as she summarized her fears, "As far as I can tell, I might be a dangerous criminal or some sort of freak experiment that's being tracked-"
His hands were on her shoulders as he made sure she looked him in the eye. "Scout, you're not a freak."
Scout's smile twitched. "You don't know that. Nobody knows that," she shook her head. "And I'm not sure if I want to know."
Hector brought one hand to her chin and lifted her face back towards his. "Scout, believe me," he said in low tones, "I've been around the worst people. Even when their minds are messed with, there are signs. I can tell. It's not something that's easily erased. You, you are a good person."
"You..." Scout felt a weight lifting from her shoulders, and her smile suddenly became less strained. "You're sure?"
Hector nodded and the hand on her chin went to his chest. "I will do what I can at the mansion to help you," he swore.
"Thank you." Scout beamed, and then began to shake with relief. Her mind was now settled, but she suddenly didn't feel so down. When Hector held his arms a bit open, she gratefully returned with an embrace.
She had no idea how long they stayed like that, but the miasma just below the surface of his skin soothed her. Her eyelids fell, and the last thing she knew before she dozed off was his chin brushing her forehead and a pressure on her hair.
Hector gently set Scout on her bed, removing her jacket and socks and tucking her in. Listening for footsteps, he went to the window. Once he was sure nobody was outside, he opened the window and exited. After shutting it quietly behind him, he walked briskly back towards Xavier's, marveling at how smoothly that meeting had gone. Being friends with Scout would be so easy. His battered conscience told him that he had to help her at the mansion, and Hector would comply. Sort of.
As he came through the front doors, Renée was there waiting for him. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" she seethed.
"Not past curfew since the gates weren't locked," Hector said without looking at her. "You should've gone walking with me. It's a great stress reliever." He stretched dramatically with a yawn just to annoy her.
"Where'd you go?" she asked.
"Out." It was an honest answer, and Hector's quick exit up the stairs left no room for further conversation.
That night, as he settled down to sleep, Hector wondered what he would do the next time he saw Scout. If he left the mansion at night too often, it would seem suspicious. Better to pick random times that Scout wasn't working to see her. He smiled as he planned it all out, but a guilty feeling kept trying to overtake him. He ruthlessly repressed it. I deserve a little happiness after what I've been through.
Everything would be as it should be, as long as Scout did not regain her memory.