Learning to Breathe

Chapter Forty-Three: Leaving So Soon?

"Why did she say I wasn't going to stay here?" Zanya asked. She, her father, and Atlantis were standing in Zartan's office.

"Because you aren't." Zartan replied to his daughter. "At least not for much longer. I have an assignment for you."

"What?" The older girl blinked. "Like a solo mission?"

"Exactly." He said. "You're going undercover as a student to a town south of New York City."

"Why?" She asked. "Not that I'm not honored to take the job, but why send just me instead of her? I thought her folks are in that area of the country."

"I can't go back again without attracting some unwanted attention." The blond sighed. "Anyone there finds out who I am, this group, not to mention anyone I know there, is in danger. You're the only agent we can send up there."

"How long will I be up there?" The brown- eyed girl asked.

"That's the thing." Zartan folded his hands. "We don't know. You need to be able to win the trust of the people in that town, so at least a few months—maybe a year at most."

"A whole year?" Zanya gasped. "And what are we going to do here? Put the Dreadnoks on hold?"

"Oh no, we're going to keep the same schedule we have now." Her father answered. "Two Vipers will go with you and pose as your parents. I will check on you as often as I can, but I can't leave either of these teams unattended for more than a week, let alone an entire year."

Zanya sighed, looking not too happy about the situation. "When do I leave?"

"In a few weeks." Atlantis said. "The sooner we get you up there, the sooner you come back."

"Well, I can't say that I'm exactly sad to leave that Virus nut behind, what kind of information am I supposed to be scouting for." The green-haired girl crossed her arms.

"That is her story to tell." Zartan indicated the other girl in the room. "Explain this again, please."

"Fine." Andi sighed. "Brief rundown, there are two mutant groups living in Bayville—the town you are going to. They are small as of now, but since one of them is posing as a school, I expect the population will expand in the coming months. You will serve as our eyes in Bayville—oh, and the Commander need not be notified."

"Just our stint?" The girl asked. Zartan nodded. "Charming. What's my cover?"

"Anya Martins, a sophomore classman, has just moved from the mid-west because her father found a better job in New York." Zartan explained. "Don't roll your eyes at me like that, Zanya, you can do this. You've been training for these types of missions since you were five."

"For a whole year?" She asked.

"Some missions require you to disappear for many years, dear." He stated. "This is a simple mission. Don't let anyone know you have abilities. You can try out for sports if you wish, but no ninja skills. No extraordinary behavior."

"In other words, blend in." She deduced. "I get that. Why am I the only one doing this? Shouldn't one of the other Dreadnoks be in on this?"

"Normally, yes, but with Virus coming in and the other kids here re-adjusting to their roles, it won't be possible for now." He said. "You're the best one I have for this, or else I wouldn't be sending you. You can keep your cool and blend in; these others either haven't learned how to do that well yet or cannot be introduced to that environment. Besides, you need the experience this job will provide."

"I know." She said. "I just don't know if I can handle this alone."

"If you feel threatened by anything, all you need to do is call us." Zartan soothed. "In addition, one of us will drop in at regular intervals for a report."

"You won't be as alone as you think, and it won't be so bad in Bayville." Andi added. "If one of their mutant bosses weren't after my hide, I'd volunteer. It's an easy assignment. Just watch what the other students do and report anything unusual."

"Do we have profiles?" Zanya asked. "I would like to know who I'm supposed to be looking out for."

"We're working on that." Zartan said. "No exact student profiles as of yet, but anyone living at the Xavier Institute or Brotherhood Boarding House should be kept under observation."

"I take it those are our mutant hot-spots." Zanya said. "Fine, I'll go."

"And I've got to check on the rest of my group." Andi said. "I get the feeling that Kris will be itching for revenge."

"I almost feel sorry for Virus." Zanya quipped.

"Besides, I need to speak with the other adults about a disguise for you." Zartan said. "You two can run along now."

"Yes sir." Andi mumbled before leaving. Zanya caught her outside the door.

"Was this your idea?"

"I thought they would send some other agent as a security officer!" The blond protested. "This wasn't what I had in mind, but your dad seemed to think you were perfect for the part! I'm not going to argue with him about that, especially after my last trip 'home'."

"Bad week?" The older girl asked.

"You have no idea." Andi glared. "Can we just drop it? I'm not in the mood to discuss this right now."

"Whatever." Zanya waved. "Just don't sabotage my mission."

"I won't be anywhere near Bayville for a good long while." The younger teen sighed. "Trust me, it won't be a problem."

"You better hope it's not." Zanya spat, charging off to her room. A slamming door made Andi shudder.

"Great. Just great." She sighed, walking to her own bedroom.

The following morning, the rest of the group still had no knowledge of Zanya's planned departure. What they did know, however, was that their new housemate had made himself a pest. At precisely five thirty, he put his latest plan into action.

While persistently hitting on a girl wouldn't normally earn anyone a trip down a staircase, Virus pushed his infatuation above and beyond normalcy. He tiptoed into her room and began to sing. He would not get through the first stanza.

Someone's god-awful rendition of some Fleetwood Mac tune awoke her. Though a morning person by nature, Andi grew notoriously cranky if anyone besides Laredo, the dog, woke her up before six. Virus especially provoked her ire.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" She hissed, throwing a pillow directly into his face.

"I had to prove my love for you!" He declared as she got out of bed and stalked towards him.

"If you meant that you wouldn't be breaking into my room!" She growled.

"You're just playing hard to get." He said, grabbing her wrist. "Admit it, you love me!"

"I would love to get rid of you, but that doesn't seem to be working." She replied. "Get out of my room!"

"We can talk about this at another time if you want to... Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Virus shouted as he rolled backward down the stairs. Having forgotten that the girl's room opened out to the staircase, he decided to back out until he found a wall or other door. His mistake cost him a lot of pain and woke the rest of the house.

"Time for you to learn rule number five of the house code, Virus." Andi snarled, making her way down the staircase. "Don't ever invade the room of another person after hours!"

"Technically, this is before hours." Virus argued weakly, trying to scurry backward as the blue Amazon stalked up to him.

"Silence!" She sneered. "No more serenades, got it?"

Virus nodded fervently, and upon noticing the crowd at the top of the staircase, collapsed in a heap.

It was five forty. No one should be conscious at this hour let alone singing, for god's sake. And then, after some shouting, someone declared war and shoved the other down the stairs.

Deciding to investigate, Zartan crawled out of bed and stumbled out into the hallway to get a better view of the scene below. There was no better word to describe the scene than, well, scene. Virus lay battered and bruised at the bottom of the staircase, with Andi leering over him. Some of the lighter-sleeping housemates were awake already.

"Why the hell did he back down the stairs?" Torch yawned.

"I don't care." Kristen waved. "Can I draw on his face?"

"That's not nice." Neal mumbled, wiping his eyes.

"He's not nice." Kristen said. "Can I, Andi? Please?"

"Nobody is drawing on anyone." He said, gaining the attention of the others.

"I guess they woke you up too, Boss." Regan stared up at him. He glared down the stairs at Atlantis.

"Creed! Stop kicking Virus and get up here!" he shouted. Andi grumbled something under her breath and trudged up the stairs. "What is going on? Why did you throw him down the stairs?"

"I did not throw him down the stairs, the moron backed out of my room and over the top stair after I told him to haul his ass out of my room." The blue- eyed girl glared, facing him. "He came in singing at five thirty! You ought to be thankful I didn't shred the Brit!"

Zartan pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not going to be a pleasant morning—as if the body falling down the stairs wasn't bad enough. "Let me get this straight. He came into your room and started singing?"

"Yeah, and then he claimed that I was coming on to him and just playing hard to get." She growled. "After I told him to scram, he said he wanted to talk about it later. That's when he rolled down the stairs."

"What a dyke." Kristen said, earning a threatening glare from Zartan.

"Don't call other people that." He ordered. "I had better not catch any more of you using that kind of language."

"Why do you care?" Andi asked. "We're the bad guys for crying out loud!"

"That doesn't mean we must always act coarse." He replied. "Especially you. Now, drag Virus back to his room and come downstairs. I don't think any of us will be going back to sleep any time soon."

"Aren't you going to punish him?" Neal asked.

"Later." Zartan growled. "We'll discuss this after breakfast. He should be awake again by then."

"Unfortunately." Andi muttered, grabbing the unconscious mutant by the shirt collar and dragging him down the hallway.