Chapter 8 - Sinister Gets More Than He Asked For
The five X-Men that Sinister had asked for were silent for almost the entirety of the trip out, except for the occasional low growl from Logan that kept up the closer they got to the abandoned, huge place out on an island.
When they got to their destination, there were easily enough Marauders to manhandle each of them. As the first pair approached Logan, he couldn't help but pop his claws under the guy's nose. "Lay one finger on me or any of them, and I'll cut it off. We're here like he asked — lead the way, or I start cutting," Logan snarled out.
Scott walked ahead of the teens and Logan behind them, growling low the entire time. When they arrived, Sinister was standing with James — and beyond him, they could see all the kids in one place. They could hear Elin growling as well as the telltale squeak of Krissy trying to do the same. Sinister didn't only have the little ones, either — the three newest kids were there; the boys were caged, and Jana looked to have been set up for a blood drain; she was pale and wide-eyed.
"Mom?" Sying called out when he spotted Jubilee, who looked simply livid and was barely holding back from losing her temper.
"Hush, sweetheart," Jubilee said as quietly as she was able, through gritted teeth.
"Alright, you wanted a trade," Scott said, his eyes narrowed. "We're here — so let the kids go."
"To whom?" Sinister asked. "You know I don't want to keep any of you. One at a time, give me what I want — and I'll give you what you want."
"Give them to Tammy. Let her take them back," Scott suggested. "You don't need them anymore. You've got who you wanted."
"But she too is on the list of who I wanted," Sinister replied. "You may all leave together once I've finished." He looked at the group of them for a moment before he pointed to Logan. "You first."
Sparks were flying from Jubilee's fingertips, and she was clearly gritting her teeth to keep from screaming at the creepy doc in front of her. As Logan passed her by, he laid a hand on her shoulder for a moment. "It's fine, Jubes," he said quietly. "Not the first time. Likely not the last."
"At least… at least let me move the kids to a different room," Tammy said quietly, peeking out from around Tyler's side where he was trying to keep her from view of everyone at once. "Please."
Sinister considered her for a moment before he crooked a finger at her. "You may hold the little one — and stay with the others until your turn."
She glanced at the others in the group before she nodded quickly and slipped around Tyler, clearly terrified as she held out her arms for James. "Come on, sweetheart," she said to James, pulling him close to her. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay," she whispered over and over again as the little boy was clearly grumpy and not pleased at all. As soon as she had hold of the little boy, one of the Marauders pulled her back from Sinister, nearly dragging her over to where the kids were as the other Marauders moved to keep the rest of the X-Men restrained, not willing to take any chances now that Sinister was without his tiny human shield.
Once Tammy was locked in with the little ones, they all mobbed her, cuddling in as best they could. Elin even tried to stop growling long enough to kiss her brother before the Marauders moved to block the kids' view.
"It's okay," Tammy said as she kissed the top of Elin's head.
"Dad here," Charlie agreed as she pulled her arms around Tammy as best she could. "Want to go home."
"We're going home," Tammy promised them all. "Really soon, okay? I promise."
Scott looked as if he was about to break every tooth in his mouth for as hard as his jaw was set while Sinister tied Logan down — and Logan looked as if he was simply trying to distance himself mentally as far and as fast as he could before it actually got started.
He'd done a pretty good job of it too, though none of those that had come to volunteer could stand to just watch. Even though Logan was doing everything he could to keep from making a noise, it was simply an inevitable thing when he finally couldn't keep it all under wraps. He managed to avoid screaming, but the sound that wrenched itself from him was just … it sounded like something that couldn't be held back. Somewhere between a gasp and a whimper.
At that sound, the kids, who couldn't see anything, started to get upset. Elin was growling again, but it was when Krissy let out a little muffled, terrified sob, half buried in Tammy's side, that something in Scott snapped.
He hadn't even planned it, not entirely. He wasn't aiming; he just… had his sights on Sinister already, and the red beam that escaped him wasn't entirely controlled. But that only meant it was higher intensity as it hit the pale doctor and blasted him back into a wall — and that's when Scott's beams became purposeful.
"Enough," Scott half snarled out, shaking with rage as he kept blasting, a focused, single beam that bored into Sinister's diamond at the center of his forehead. He didn't need to use his hands to take the guy's head off.
Jubilee tipped her head toward Tyler, and the two of them attacked the Marauders that had been holding them and Scott. They rushed forward in tandem, letting them have it — claws and plasma together and it was more than Sinister's big bodyguards had expected.
And the whole time, Scott made sure to keep blasting until Sinister was well and truly past the point of returning, opening up the beam even wider to take the guy's head off. When he was finished, he blasted a hole in the wall too — and then, finally, he let up and looked over to where Logan was, firing off a narrow beam that tore open the restraints holding Logan down before he turned his rage on the Marauders with the others.
Tammy was crouched in front of all the kids, both of her hands held out as she kept the Marauders away from the kids, picking up anyone that got too close and pitching them back at Scott, Jubilee, and Tyler, who were tearing Marauders apart. She couldn't quite keep the kids from seeing what was going on, though — and they were all hidden in her sides, half peeking out as they were torn between terror and watching their parents tear the bad guys to shreds.
Once things looked to be getting well in hand, Tyler took a look around the lab then took it a step further, destroying all of the samples he could find — wrecking everything in case the creep found a way to bounce back from what Scott had done.
It took Logan a little while to get himself together again, though when he did, most of the excitement was already over, and when Scott pulled him upright, Logan was sure to hand him the keys before Tammy handed him James and Elin pulled herself up so she could get carried out on his hip.
Jubilee scooped up both Sying and Krissy. Her little boy snuggled right into her but had a firm hold of Krissy's hand; Krissy was still crying. Tammy and Tyler had a twin each as Scott unlocked the cage holding the two teenage boys, who both quailed under the look he was giving them before they ran out as fast as they could.
Which left Jana, who was still staring at Sinister's headless corpse with a look of abject horror. When Scott cut her loose, though, she looked terrified of him, and she drew back a bit, pale and drained from the blood Sinister had taken and not at all up to trying to outrun him — and she knew it. "I didn't know," she gasped out quickly. "You gotta believe me. He said he was a geneticist."
Scott frowned at the way she was flinching back from him and let out a long sigh. "We'll talk about it when we get back. Come on — we need to get you to Hank," he said, offering her a hand that she looked at suspiciously.
"I didn't know," she repeated, and he nodded. With the adrenaline of the fight gone — he was simply tired now.
"I believe you," he said, and she finally let him take her to where the car was waiting for them. Logan was far back in the cargo area, looking half asleep with most of the kids curled into him, with Jubilee at the wheel waiting for the other two to catch up. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Jana but didn't say anything as Scott got her in with the rest.
"I'm going to stay here," he told the group. "I'll call Hawkeye — Clint — and see if I can get a couple Avengers to come down. I don't want him coming back."
"You need anyone to stay with you?" Jubilee asked, but Scott shook his head again.
"Just tell Annie what's going on," he said, already pulling out his phone. "And make sure Jana gets to the med wing. She lost a lot of blood."
"I can help if you want some back up," Tyler offered. "Just until Clint gets here."
Scott turned to Tyler for a moment and then let out a breath and nodded. "Probably a good idea," he admitted. "If he does come back, I know I can't take him on my own."
"Liar," Logan muttered, but Jubilee was the only one to hear it, and she smirked to herself as Chance leaned up and patted him.
"Sleepy," he said quietly.
"That's right, sweetie, Logan is very sleepy," Tammy said with a little muted smirk as Charlie, who was snuggled under her chin, nodded her agreement.
"Don't do that," Logan said with a growl.
"Do what?" she asked.
"That. Just … don't. Mind your own business," he said, clearly not in any kind of mood to be around anyone at all.
Tammy raised an eyebrow at him before she raised her arm to let Charlie escape and join the cuddles.
"You can't get away with that," Jubilee told her. "You're not in the club."
Tammy smiled at that and shook her head. "I'll take my chances. I'm dating the seven-foot one."
"Who is afraid of the one that's 5'3"," Jubilee pointed out. "There is a reason for that."
"I know," Tammy said. "But Charlie wanted to snuggle him." She was still smirking quietly.
"Charlie's in the club," Jubilee teased. She tipped her head toward the kids curled around Logan. "Take a look."
"Is there a height limit to the club, then?" Tammy teased.
Before she could get the entire giggle out, Logan reached forward and slapped her in the back of the head.
Beside her, Tyler had just finished healing Jana, and he had to chuckle on seeing Tammy rubbing her head and glaring at Logan with a look that had zero bite to it at all. "Don't start," he warned her as he slipped out of the car to join Scott.
Scott pocketed the phone as he hung up with Clint and let out a long breath as Tyler reached him. "Come on," he said, jerking his head to indicate they should go inside. "I want to keep a close eye on him."
The two of them made their way back into the abandoned building. Although Sinister hadn't moved from where he was, the scorch marks were still clearly visible. Scott sat down heavily nearby and scrubbed both hands over his face, seemingly reluctant to believe Sinister was really gone as he watched the body with deep suspicion and looked tired.
"You need a once over?" Tyler asked.
Scott glanced up at Tyler and smirked the slightest bit. "No, I'm fine," he promised. "Just want to make sure we didn't miss anything. We've thought he was dead before…" He let out a long sigh. "Though I think this time he couldn't jump bodies…" He sounded like he was trying very hard not to get his hopes up too quickly.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that if he tried to do that, he'd be thinking twice about ticking you off again," Tyler reasoned.
Scott raised an eyebrow at Tyler and scrubbed a hand over his face again. "Doubtful," he half muttered.
"I don't know. What was it that tripped you?" Tyler asked with open curiosity. "That's something I've been working on. To be able to figure out what it was that sets me off."
Scott had to think about it for a moment; he hadn't really been thinking at the time, but… "The kids," he said at last. "When Logan … when they heard Logan and I realized he was going to keep terrorizing them for the rest of their lives if he could…." He trailed off and looked up at Tyler. "I should apologize; I didn't exactly model good control," he offered tiredly.
"I don't know about that," Tyler said. "I think you had amazing control. Fine focus ... "
Scott actually chuckled at that. "That first blast, though," he admitted quietly. "I didn't even realize I was going to hit him until I did."
There was a long silence before Tyler turned to Scott again. "You did tell Annie to make sure that K didn't leave, right? Because if she gets here before Clint, she's going to set him on fire."
"That might keep him from coming back," Scott said with a fleeting smirk.
"The fire or the threat of her that pissed off?" Tyler said with a little smirk. "I noticed he didn't ask for her."
"Both." Scott smirked a bit wider. "I think he's scared of her."
"She does have a track record," Tyler said with a falsely thoughtful tone.
"Think she'll be disappointed I got there first?" Scott asked.
"K?" Tyler asked, turning toward Scott fully. "No way. She'll probably give you a kiss and a bear hug ... call you some stupid, super sweet nickname."
"At this point, I doubt either of their kids will ever know I have a name," Scott said, chuckling a bit.
"That doesn't surprise me," Tyler laughed. "They only give nicknames to people they like, right?"
"That's true for K," Scott said. "Logan has a few for people that piss him off."
"Yeah, but they did pick you for godfather," Tyler pointed out. "I think that should be a clue."
"Well, it's been years and I haven't driven him out," Scott said, then paused. "Well ... not the way I usually do."
"How's that?" Tyler was frowning at the implications. "I didn't think he'd leave unless he wanted to."
Scott smirked at Tyler. "You're pretty young," he said, shaking his head. "I was about your age the first time I tried to tell Logan what to do. Got pretty good at pissing him off since then."
"But he kept coming back," Tyler said.
"Yeah, we were lucky," Scott agreed. "Lucky he knew I was a stupid kid and didn't let that stop him from helping the rest of the team."
"Doesn't sound like a move for everyone but you. More like the entire team."
"Yeah, as a unit," Scott agreed.
"Why did he keep coming back?" Tyler asked with a frown. "Had to be more than just the team."
Scott let out a breath of a laugh. "He believed in the professor's dream," he explained. "That's always been bigger than any one of us or any team." He smirked a bit as he added, "Plus, you know he wouldn't stay away too long once we had people like Jubes and Kurt on the team."
"He's gotta take care of people," Tyler concluded.
"Always been that way," Scott agreed. He actually smiled a bit as he added, "That's when we get along best. Someone to protect — easier to keep from trying to kill each other."
It was another ten minutes before Clint finally arrived, and still, Sinister hadn't moved in the slightest. Nothing had changed, but Scott hadn't taken his eyes off of the body, either.
When Clint found the two X-Men, he let out a low whistle when he saw the scene in front of him. "So ... facial recognition's impossible, but the dramatic getup, the medical setup… you guys killed Mr. Sinister?" He sounded impressed.
"It was him," Scott said tiredly. "I just … need to be sure it's actually over."
Clint looked at the mess that used to be Sinister and raised an eyebrow. "Looks pretty over to me," he said, though he still made a show of going over to check for a pulse and a heartbeat.
Scott let out a weary breath. "No … he used to be able to jump into body clones. I don't think that's the case …"
"How close did they have to be?" Clint asked. "The clones. I can make a sweep if you're wiped."
"I'm not sure," Scott said with a frown. "But with the condition he was in to start with, I'd guess probably close."
Clint nodded and quickly headed out to search through the whole building, tossing a quick, "This kind of crap doesn't happen to Avengers," over his shoulder before he left.
"So I've been told," Scott said dryly.
Clint was gone for a good long time before he returned with a smile on. "Well, there's no clones that I can find. And there's no evidence that anybody left any of the closets or rooms - dust hasn't been disturbed in any doorways but the ones you guys've used." He gestured at the two X-Men and the body. "You three are the only ones here besides the goons."
"Maybe I should have had Logan sweep the place before he left," Scott muttered quietly.
"Hey." Clint drew himself up a bit. "Do you doubt Kate when you ask her to sweep a place? I know what I'm doing. And I'm telling you - there's no way anybody left this place without you guys seeing it or the dust line and spiderwebs getting broken, okay?"
Scott seemed to think it over for a long while before he finally nodded very sedately. "So that's it then?"
"We can book the body if you're really that worried," Clint said.
"He hasn't regenerated at all," Scott said. "I've been watching."
"Why don't we call in Strange?" Clint suggested. "I figure he or Wiccan can double-check."
Scott shrugged. "You can," he said. "But Essex never used magic."
"Maybe not, but I've been running a team with Wiccan long enough to know that when you pull out a soul — or whatever you want to call it — you can track it. Body switch should be the same principle, right?" Clint tipped his head at Scott. "I just want to make sure."
"Yeah. Seems like." Somehow, Scott looked a bit more dazed, but he was at least trusting what Clint was telling him — which was an improvement.
Clint watched Scott for another long moment before he glanced at Tyler and tossed him his phone. "Call Wiccan for me, wouldja Baywatch? He'll come down and take a look at this place. I'll stay here with Cyclops."
"You got it, Hawk-guy," Tyler replied as he headed outside for better reception — and to give the men some much-needed privacy.
Clint waited until the door was closed before he sat down across from Scott and let out a long breath. "You wanna tell me what happened?" he asked. "Don't spare the details; I'm not squeamish, and I know this guy is a grade A creep."
"He took the kids. All of them. He wanted to trade — the kids for a few of us giving him his precious samples.… He didn't get through one before I just … blasted him," Scott said simply, finally looking up at Clint with a totally blank expression.
"He took the kids." Clint breathed out the realization as he looked around the room with a new understanding.
"He was holding James when we got here. Had the rest of them locked up."
A muscle was twitching in Clint's jaw. "He was locking up…" He looked over at the cages and got even angrier. "And you left enough of him to identify?" he asked at last. "That's some restraint, man."
"Kids were scared," Scott replied in a monotone.
"'Course they were," Clint said, shaking his head. "And you kept 'em safe. That's what you're supposed to do." He watched Scott and frowned. "So what's the hangup, Scott?" he asked at last. "You did good."
"I just — I can't believe it's over. All these years."
"Feels like an age and a half with some of these creeps," Clint agreed, nodding.
"He's chased and tormented me my whole life," Scott told him.
Clint raised both eyebrows at that and leaned in for a moment, his hands clasped in front of him as he seemed to be looking for something to say until he gave up and clapped a hand on Scott's shoulder. "Got Wiccan double-checking me, but from what I can see? It's over. Guy can't touch you or anyone else again." He watched Scott as he seemed to finally be wrapping his head around it. "Alright. Listen to me for a sec, okay? I know you don't drink much, but I'm telling you right now — do not hit the alcohol when you get home. Don't be alone. Don't try to get numb and don't try to pretend you're not feeling it."
"I need to check on Logan," he said with a little frown. "He usually disappears after something like this."
"He take K and the kids?" Clint asked.
"This hasn't happened to him since they've been around," Scott said, glancing up at him.
"Well, long as they go with him, don't worry about it. I'll call up Nat and tell her to go snuggle Logan or something," he said. "That's not your job right now. You didn't listen to me." He met Scott's gaze and didn't look away. "Tell me what I just told you."
"No I got all that, I'm just — I gotta make sure everyone else is alright too."
"No, you didn't get all that," Clint said sharply. "I told you — don't pretend you're not feeling it. You think the others at that school can't handle it? Don't think Annie's not feeding them or that K's not on Logan like glue?"
"I just want to know this is over with so I can go home to my family," Scott said.
"I'll drive you," Clint offered. "Wiccan can call me when he's done, but I doubt he'll find anything. And you do not need to drive."
Scott gave him a ghost of a smirk. "I do have Lifeguard with me," he pointed out.
"And Lifeguard can go home with Billy," he said. "You need to get home to your wife and kids, and look, you don't really have a choice in this, okay?" Clint drew himself up a bit. "This is how it's gonna be."
Scott gave him a very dry look with one eyebrow raised the slightest. "Are you going to make me? Because that was the plan anyhow."
"I could, but don't make me do that," Clint said with a smirk as he stood up and offered Scott a hand up.
"If you do send Nat over to keep an eye on things, you two should stick around. I'm sure Annie will be baking in the morning if she's not already."
Clint thought about it for a moment before he nodded. "We should probably stay close anyway. Nat's due in a few weeks."
"That might be bait enough to keep Logan around too," Scott said.
"That's true," Clint agreed. He held out his hand. "Need your phone; I gave mine to Baywatch, and I gotta call my wife."
Scott smirked at him a bit and handed it over with no further comment.
Clint dialed the number without even looking and picked it up. "Nat, how fast can you get down to the mansion to see Wolverine? There was a problem—" He paused as Natasha was already asking what happened. "Kids got grabbed, but Logan's got 'em—" He paused again and a moment later just nodded and handed the phone back to Scott.
"Nat's on her way," he said. "She'll probably beat us back. Meantime, let's get you home." He was still watching Scott out of the corner of his eye before Billy and Tyler poked in from the other room.
"So…" Billy looked over at the two older men. "There're definitely body doubles? But none of them have the guy's soul or mind in them, and they're all in different places, not this creepy place." He let out a heavy sigh. "If you want, I can give you a list of the bodies' hiding places so you can get rid of those too. I wrote 'em down."
"That would be good," Scott said, nodding. "Need to destroy whatever files he has too — just in case someone else goes snooping."
"Got it," Billy said.
"Think you and Ty here can get the teams going and get on that?" Clint asked. "You know that would be a fun one to take Miles on. Just to watch his face when he sees all the clones."
"I'll make sure we record it," Tyler said with a smirk. "I've heard things from Spidey."
"Great. I'm getting Scott home, so just lemme know when you're done." Clint smirked over at Scott. "This is an Avengers run; let the new team stretch their wings and dip their toes in your crazy for a change. So I'll run it."
"You must want to traumatize them," Scott said evenly.
"It's just cleanup," Clint pointed out. "And they'll know going in what they're going to find."
"Knowing it's a clone and knowing it's a clone of Sinister are two different things," Scott replied.
"That's why I'm sending my team. They don't know him," Clint said. "Heck, I didn't know what a creep he was until recently, and I've been at this for years." He and Scott headed for the car as he added, "No need to traumatize your friends and your team with this guy anymore. He's gone. Let us bat cleanup."
Scott smirked a bit and couldn't help but chuckle. "Sounds to me like the Avengers are a little … soft."
"You're lucky you said that to me and not Cap or Tony," he teased easily.
"Come on, you've seen the crap we deal with on the regular," Scott said with a bit of a laugh. "And I think your exact words were 'Avengers don't have to deal with this kind of thing'. That's pretty telling."
"Got me there," Clint chuckled. "But hey, that's what the foreign exchange program is for, right? Gotta toughen 'em up."
"Reminding you how good you have it up in the big tower?"
"Yeah, that too." Clint shook his head as he got into the driver's seat of his car. "Listen, you're gonna wake up tonight and think it's not real, so just ... make sure the kids aren't in the room with you."
"Barton," Scott said wearily. "This is not my first time around."
"Different when it's someone who's been around that long," Clint said. He stared ahead for a second before he said, "My dad, my mentor ... did the same thing to me."
"Genetic experimentations over decades?" Scott deadpanned. "That's cold."
Clint looked over at Scott and actually laughed at that. "Nah, I meant it kept me up nights after they were gone," he explained.
"Honestly, I think I'll sleep better tonight than I have in years," Scott said.
"Good," Clint nodded. He couldn't help but smirk and add, "Annie will appreciate it."