Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I may have borrowed a few lines of dialogue from Blackadder II, Chains, but I don't own that either.

Chapter Thirty Nine – Rescue

February 2009

"Good God …" Pietro groaned as he woke up. "What on Earth was I drinking last night?"

His arms ached and he guessed he must have fallen asleep on the couch again. He was joking about the drinking of course; he hadn't gone out and no one would let a drop of alcohol pass through the doors of the Boarding House because of what had happened to Todd and his mom.

It was too quiet though and it didn't take him long to notice the restraints around his wrists. He tugged on them experimentally. "Where am I? Why am I chained to the wall?"

"Le han secuestrado, idiota. ¡Ella vendrá y la controlaremos otra vez!" A male voice sniggered.

Pietro shook his head, clearing it, his surroundings coming into sharp contrast: a dark, dank cell that looked like it belonged in a movie about the middle ages. Across from him a man leaned against the wall, wearing a uniform Pietro was sure he should recognise.

"What?" Pietro frowned, trying desperately to remember the hours of Spanish lessons his father had made him sit through. "Hang on; I haven't been kidnapped, have I?"

That morning's events suddenly flooded his memory sending worry coursing through him when he realised he was alone.

The man, who clearly understood English, even if he didn't speak it, nodded vigorously. "Si! Si!"

"Great." Pietro muttered. "Well, this is freakin' humiliating. Okay, is there any chance you're a member of the Spanish Inquisition?"

"Usted es aún más estúpido que pensamos." The man muttered, rolling his eyes.

"… Good." Pietro sighed, wondering where the hell he was and why they'd send someone who didn't speak English to interrogate him. "Because, if I am, I want to make it very clear that I am prepared to tell you absolutely anything."

Gaining a glint in his eye that told Pietro that he was enjoying himself a lot more than his charge was, the man began to sigh something.

"Great." Pietro muttered again. "I always loved charades. Alright, let's see …"

It took him about ten minutes, but finally he thought he'd cracked it.

"Hang on." He sighed. "Let me see if I've got this right. If I admit that I'm in love with …"

"No!" The man stopped him and sat down, rolling backwards.

"Sorry." Pietro rolled his eyes. "Head over heels in love with Satan and all his little wizards, you will remove my testicles …" He paused, watching the man resign something. "… with some kind of blunt gardening tool, but we can't quite agree on which, and roast them over a large fire. Whereas if I don't admit I'm in love with Satan and all his little wizards you will dangle me upside down in a vat of warm marmalade?"

Neither option sounded particularly welcoming but he'd prefer the second.

"Y! Y!" The man prompted.

"Oh, and remove my testicles with … Oh, I see." Pietro grimaced. "In that case, I love Satan."

His guard grinned evilly and produced a large weapon from a nearby wall.

"Oh, it's a scythe." Pietro realised. "Well, that's slightly less …" He grimaced, wincing as it swung towards him. Sorry, Lex.

The door flew open, causing the Spanish-speaking man to yelp and drop the weapon, narrowly missing Pietro's foot.

"Greetings, Mr. Maximoff." The new voice sounded foreign as well, but Pietro couldn't place the accent nor could he recognise the man in the flood of light that had entered. "I have been busy with your friends."

"Where are they?" Pietro demanded, fighting against his restraints.

A cruel smile crossed the man's face; an elderly man, but with no signs of frailness that one would usually associate with old age. "Not here."

"Thank you so much." Pietro rolled his eyes. "That was so helpful."

The man ignored him. "I hope this scum did not inconvenience you." He pronounced the 'v' in inconvenience as a 'w' and Pietro forced himself not to laugh.

Instead, he drew himself up with as much dignity as he could muster chained to a wall. "It takes more than a maniac attempting a do-it-yourself castration to inconvenience me." He couldn't resist mocking his captor's accent.

"Good." The man closed the door, casting them into half-light once more. "If he had inconvenienced you, I was going to offer you his tongue."

Pietro resisted the urge to gag. Who the hell are these people? "Believe me, sir, if he had inconvenienced me, you would no longer have a tongue with which to make such an offer."

The man smirked. "Let me assure you; if I no longer had a tongue with which to make such an offer, you would no longer have a tongue with which to tell me that, if I had inconvenienced you, I would no longer have a tongue with which to offer you his tongue."

Pietro's head throbbed. There was something strange about this whole situation, almost like the man was using these bizarre threats to lull him into a false sense of security. He wasn't going to let it work. "Yeah, well, that's enough. Who the hell are you, sausage-breath, and where the hell am I?"

"I am Lord Viper. Welcome to HYDRA headquarters."

Pietro was quiet for a few minutes, his mind racing. Lexa had mentioned a Madam Viper, when she had told him about taking HYDRA out. "You're the guy who ordered the revived Weapon X program."

"That was me." Lord Viper confirmed, a note of pride in his voice.

His girlfriend's face floated into his mind, stained with tears, and Pietro moved forwards automatically, realising that his powers were useless against his restraints. "You bastard!" He spat, cursing his inability to do anything. "Why can't you just leave her alone? She doesn't owe you anything!"

"We made her who she is." Lord Viper snapped.

"No, you wanted a weapon." Pietro corrected. "You wanted a mercenary. Someone who would kill without thought or compassion."

"And she has." Lord Viper smirked. "Or didn't she tell you about that?"

"She did." Pietro whispered. "But if you think she doesn't feel guilty over that, you're wrong. And you know you're wrong, or I wouldn't be here. If she's an emotionless weapon, she'll stay away, because she won't care enough to come after me."

"You know, you talk too much." Viper told him.

"So I've been told." Pietro responded, still scowling. God, Lexa, stay away. I couldn't handle it if something happened to you.

But his prayers were left unanswered when the door flew open again.

"Lord Viper!" A voice shouted. "She's early!"

"Ah, wonderful." Viper moved away from the door to allow two men to fling Lexa in as though she were a sack of potatoes.

She landed on her back and lay perfectly still, even when she was chained herself.

"Lex …" Pietro moved instinctively towards her, only to find that his own chains were too short to let him.

"Strange." Viper commented. "I was expecting her to put up more of a fight. I hope you understand this means I can't bargain for your release yet."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Oh dear." He deadpanned. "And I was hoping I'd be out of here by lunchtime."

Viper ignored him. "I will leave you for now. Plots don't just make themselves."

As soon as the door closed behind him and the heavy lock had fallen into place, Lexa pushed herself to her feet, no sign of head injury or fatigue, and he realised she had allowed herself to get captured. "You know, Pietro, when I said we should spend more time together, this wasn't what I had in mind."

"Me neither." Pietro muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, dear." Lexa responded cheerfully, examining the chains that held her. "Medieval, aren't they? Are you alright?"

"Oh, fine; never better." Pietro rolled her eyes. "In fact, I'm thinking of buying a vacation home here; the view's fantastic."

"Sarcasm is a sign of insecurity, Pietro; stop it." Lexa advised mildly.

"Where are the others?" Pietro asked.

"Somewhere." Lexa shrugged. "Lexa's looking for them."

Pietro raised an eyebrow. "Not even you can be in two places at once, babe. And since when do you refer to yourself in the third person?"

Lexa smirked mischievously. "I don't."

In one swift movement, her restraints had fallen to the floor and Kitty was standing in front of her, brushing her uniform down. "Shall we?"

"Where's Lexa?" Pietro demanded, as she phased him through the chains.

"I told you, she's looking for the others." Kitty reminded him. "Stand back." She passed her hand through the lock and the door swung open.

The guard outside turned to them, but Kitty didn't give them time to speak.

Pietro winced automatically. "Damn, Kit-Kat; Lance was right. You do have one hell of a right hook."

"Why thank you." Kitty grinned. "Let's go."

"Any ideas?" Todd asked.

Lance sighed, pacing the length of the cell they were in. "Not since you last asked."

"Which was when?" Todd pressed.

"About five seconds ago." Lance stopped and sighed again. "Does anyone even know what HYDRA is? And why isn't Pietro with us?"

"They made Lexa into X-23." Wanda scowled. "And he's probably leverage to get her back. They've already done it once."

"Why?" Lucie asked, her voice shaking slightly. "I mean, they'd only known each other a week back then."

"We're talking about the people who pumped 23 kids full of molten metal." A familiar voice said from the now open door. "No one said they were sensible."

"Where's Pietro?" Wanda asked.

"Kitty's looking for him." Lexa answered.

Lance looked up sharply. "Kitty's here?"

"Didn't I just say that?" Lexa asked in response. "It was her idea. I knew you guys would be harder to find, so I'd have to come along. As soon as someone got to him, they'd know I was here but she couldn't come to find you, because she'd get caught in the process."

"So how is Kitty not supposed to get caught?" Lance demanded.

"Because she's pretending to be me." Lexa peered out into the corridor again. "Come on."

"It was a good plan." Lexa murmured ten minutes later. "Until now."

Kitty flinched in agreement.

"It might just be me." Fred muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "But I think we're screwed."

"No, we're screwed." Todd agreed.

The seven Brotherhood members and two X-Men were backed up against the steel metal wall of HYDRA HQ with soldiers occupying every possible exit.

"It's not over yet." Lucie protested quietly. "There's a door behind us."

"Unfortunately, it is." Lexa sighed. "We're airborne and that door is the outer hatch; leads to at least a 2000 foot drop." Her hand slipped into her pocket and clenched around the item she'd hidden there. Kitty, how many people can you take?

There was a pause. Only about six, including me, but if I grab Lucie or Todd I can hold onto them.

"You're losing your touch, X-23." Lord Viper smirked. "Such a shame."

Forget about us and break the lock when I give the signal. "Pietro." Lexa murmured under her breath, her words masked by Viper's gloating. Bastard. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life." Pietro whispered back.

"Play along." Lexa cleared her throat, cutting Lord Viper off mid-sentence. "Look, if I promise to stay, will you let them go?"

"No!" Pietro protested, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Lex, you can't!"

He is so predictable. Lexa smirked. "Kitty, now!"

The door disappeared from behind you and they found themselves sucked out by the jet-stream.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lexa saw Kitty grab Lucie's arm and left the others to her, focussing on Pietro. "Don't let go!" She pulled the small box from her pocket, pressed a button and threw it into the air.

Pietro looked incredulous. "That was your plan?"

Lexa cupped his face with her free hand. "Trust me."

"I do." Pietro tightened his arms around her waist. "I do trust you, Lexa, but you're crazy. What the hell's that going to do?"

Before Lexa could respond, there was a soft pop above them and she reached up without looking, catching hold of the metal bar that had appeared when the box had turned into a propeller.

"You were saying?"

"Impressive." Pietro commented, grabbing the bar as well. "Is this going to hold both of us?"

"It should." Lexa assured him. "Just don't let go of me. I can hang on a lot longer than you can."

"We'll see about that." Pietro smirked. "And you're still crazy."

Kitty felt her feet touch the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. Her hand automatically moved to her abdomen, rubbing gently. She gave Lucie a comforting smile, gently lowering the others to the ground as well. "You okay?"

"Been better." Lucie admitted shakily as Tabby came over and gave her a hug.

"Where are Pietro and Lexa?" Wanda asked.

Kitty tipped her head back, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Up there. Well, that explains Lexa's plan."

"Shadowcat!"

The shout floated up the hill and Kitty spun on her heel to see SHIELD agents sprinting towards them, Nick Fury in the lead.

Out of habit, she stood to attention and saluted. "General Fury."

"Who did HYDRA take?" Fury asked, his gaze moving from one face to the other.

Kitty nodded to them. "All present and accounted for except Quicksilver, who's on his way down with X-23."

Any response Fury had was cut off by an explosion far above them as the headquarters exploded into a cloud of fire and smoke.

Lucie let out a low whistle. "Did you see her do that?"

"Nope." Todd replied. "Where are they?"

"There!" Wanda replied.

"Oh, Lord Viper's probably dead." Kitty added, without looking round. "He was there."

"X-23 is dead." A voice stated calmly.

"Well, I suppose you could say that metaphorically." Kitty admitted, finally turning to see a blonde woman standing beside Fury. "But Lexa's right there." She pointed at the two figures that were getting steadily closer.

"This is Dr. Deborah Risman." Fury told her. "She used to work for HYDRA."

"Ah, our genetic splicer." Kitty commented coolly, remembering Wolverine's explanation after their first run-in. She took in their expressions, a few more of Logan's comments occurred to her and she understood. "I guess Logan didn't tell you she survived blowing up HYDRA the first time."

"Yeah, that sounds like something Wolverine would do." Lexa agreed, as she and Pietro landed softly beside them. She pressed something on the bar she was holding and the propeller folded itself back into a small box, which she slipped into her pocket. "I told you so."

Pietro didn't release her, kissing her forehead. "I never doubted you. But you're still crazy."

"You're only just realising this?" Kitty asked, ignoring several astonished expressions. "She's got adamantium running through her, for God's sake."

"What does that have to do with being crazy?" Lexa asked.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "One word, three syllables, rhymes with 'submarine'."

"Logan's not that bad." Lexa protested.

"Excuse me?" Pietro asked. "Do we know the same man?"

"He's not that bad if he likes you." Kitty amended. "Lucky for you, Quicksilver, he likes you."

Fury had been watching all this with a bemused expression. "X-23 …"

"Lexa, if you don't mind." She corrected. "In fact, call me Lexa or I'll hurt you."

Fury surveyed her for a moment, then chuckled. "Wolverine was right. You're gonna be just fine."

As soon as Fury had interrupted, Kitty had turned her attention to Deborah Risman. She was staring at Lexa, a curious expression on her face.

A glance to her right told her Pietro had noticed this as well: he had moved behind Lexa, his arms wrapping around her waist protectively, although, to the untrained eye, it looked like nothing more than an innocent gesture.

Lexa had a trained eye though and she tipped her head back to meet his eyes, a slight frown on his face; he shrugged with a smirk and she smiled softly before turning back to address Fury. "So I can stay with the X-Men, right?"

Kitty moved to stand behind her, meeting Fury's eyes. She's seen too much. She whispered in her head, trying not to let it reach him. Please just leave her alone.

"The only reason we wanted to find you was to make sure you're okay." Fury told her calmly; Lexa and Kitty both knew he was lying, but they were willing to accept it if it made things easier. "This is Deborah Risman by the way."

Lexa nodded, covering Pietro's hands with her own in an unspoken plea for comfort. "I remember."

"We'll need to take statements." Fury glanced at Kitty. "Where do you think we should start?"

"Well, Pietro was separate from the others, but they were all together." Kitty told him quietly. "It makes sense to do it as a group. You'll get more out of them that way." Receiving a nod, she cleared her throat. "Guys?"

Lexa stayed in Pietro's arms as Kitty led the others away. She didn't move her gaze from Deborah.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions …" The other woman began.

Lexa laughed humourlessly. "Where do I begin … Mom?"

AN: Review please!