33. Revelation
Waking up to a steady thumping sound, Megan smiled as she snuggled closer to Miguel, not needing to open her eyes as the feel of him alone was all the confirmation she needed. Her head was nestled in his chest with the sound of his heart coming through clearly, letting her know he was still with her as she clutched him tighter. Her smile only got brighter when she felt him rake his fingers through her hair and held her closer. Again, her wings fluttered lightly as they never rescinded into their slits.
"Morning, Chupa," she whispered as she looked up at him.
"Morning, Pix." He couldn't help but smile from the sound of her voice and felt where she kissed his chest gently. "Sleep well?"
She reached up and caressed the side of his face. "What do you think?"
As they leaned in close and shared a tender kiss, Megan's alarm went off. The high pitched beeping made both groan and reluctantly separate, although Miguel didn't mind when she had to move above him to reach the clock that so rudely interrupted them.
"Well, this is familiar," he said as he held her to him.
"Very familiar." Running her hands through his hair, Megan kissed him deeply as Miguel held her tighter when a loud pounding reverberated through the room.
"Hey, Megan!" Tabitha yelled from the other side. "Get up, you got breakfast duty today!"
Miguel let out a moan as Megan let out a whimper and placed her head in the crook of his neck for a moment before looking at the locked door of her room. "I'm up; just give me a minute to shower!"
"Well hurry up 'cuz I'm starving!"
"Two interruptions already," Miguel mumbled, "Should we go for three?"
"Is breakfast ready yet?" Kitty yelled from further down the hall.
The reunited couple looked at each other with wide eyes, both knowing the Jewish girl would most likely phase into the room and catch them in bed if Megan wasn't getting ready for the day.
"Where's mah pants?" Miguel asked as Megan climbed off of him and pulled a dresser drawer open.
"I don't know, where did you put them?"
"You took them off meh and tossed them some-"
"There, on the lamp." Megan pulled out a shirt, shorts, and some underwear before wrapping herself in a robe. She then saw Miguel grabbing his jeans from the top of her desk lamp and hurriedly slipped them on, inside out. "Nice look, Chupa."
After giving her a wink, he opened the door carefully and made sure the hallway was clear before stepping out. The last thing they needed was someone to catch him coming out of Megan's room after sleeping with her.
"Hey, Pix, um…what are you gonna tell Eric when he gets back?"
Freezing in place, Megan looked down at the floor and shook her head. "I…I don't know. Last night, I just wanted to be with you. I never once thought about him." She looked at Miguel with a worried glance.
Heading back over to her, Miguel tossed his still damp shirt on his shoulder and brought her in close for a tight hug. "Ah didn't mean to make you do anything you didn't want to, so when he gets back, Ah'll tell him. Ah'll take the brunt of it."
"Are you sure? I'm just as much at fault."
"Yeah. If he wants to do anything, Ah'll let him kick me around for a bit. Ah didn't mean for last night to-"
"But it did." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the lips. "And for the record, you didn't make me do anything I didn't want to. I made my choice last night. And I'm not changing my mind."
After one last kiss, Miguel left Megan's room and headed to Noi's to check up on her. The young girl was just getting up when he knocked on her door and was told he could enter. She had yet to turn on her lamp but there was enough sunlight entering through her window, which negated the need for the simulated illumination.
"Morning, Miggle," she said with a sleepy smile.
"Hey, Noi. You getting ready to go downstairs?"
"Yeah. Logan's gonna let me run an obstacle course after breakfast today." She then looked at him strangely. "Why are your pants inside out?"
"Uh, I got dressed in the dark before checking up on you." He hoped the lousy excuse would settle her curiosity as he sat on the bed beside her. "I'll be down in the Danger Room with you to make sure Logan doesn't make things too…extreme for you."
Looking at Miguel, Noi let out a giggle as she hugged her knees to her chest.
"What?" asked Miguel.
"You and Megan…"
With his eyes growing wide and face turning red, Miguel jumped up from the girl's bed and headed for the door. "You, you really should learn how to control that reading thing."
Noi's giggle followed him as he left her room as he closed the door behind him and mentally kicked himself for forgetting her 'reading' ability. Running a hand through his hair, he quickly made his way to his room for a quick shower and a change of clothes when the sound of a throat being cleared made him freeze at his door.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who got lucky last night," Justine said with a smirk. "I saw you sneaking out of fairy girl's room before checking up on Noi. Stealing your ex back from another man…and on Valentine's Day no less. You bad boy."
Red faced and nodding, Miguel opened his door slowly. "Let's just keep this quiet, Justine. Please." He then ducked into his room.
"Too late for that," Justine said as she shook her head and headed downstairs to meet up with Sarah.
It didn't take long for Miguel to get washed up and head downstairs. Once in the foyer and about to head for the dining room, he was tackled from behind. Stumbling forward, his ears were filled with Megan's laughter, which made him laugh as well as she took him by the hand.
"Come on, don't want to be late, do you?" Megan asked as she went ahead of him. Miguel only grinned as he followed.
Entering where the others were waiting, both came to a stop at the sight of the others already eating. A large amount of food was sitting at the head of the table with the mutants helping themselves to whatever was available.
"I thought I was-" Megan tried to say before being cut off.
"Forget it," Tabitha told her. "Ororo and Amara took care of it. They thought you could use the extra rest."
"Extra rest? What do you mean 'extra rest'?"
Without missing a beat, Kitty stood from her chair and pointed at both Megan and Miguel. "You two are groin buddies again!"
The reunited couple's faces flashed red as they looked away from the table. It took a moment before Miguel could look back at them. "How…how did you-"
"We heard you two last night," Wanda said. "You really weren't that quiet."
"Oh my God." Megan ran out of the room with her face as red as an apple while Miguel was left behind.
"We heard that a lot from your room too!" Marie yelled after her as the others laughed and Miguel was left scratching the back of his head, not being able to come up with anything to tell the others until he retreated as well
Italy
High on a seaside cliff stood a large circular stone structure with bright green grass around it. Tall Romanesque pillars stretched from the marble floor to support a domed ceiling some fifty meters above the ground and allowed the fresh sea breeze to freely flow in and out of it. Upon first glance, the structure appeared white but when viewed close, took on a light grey coloring with the flooring being made of natural colored reflective marble. A long staircase was situated on the inside perimeter, leading to a balcony, which in turn led to a chateau next door. Below was the only other entrance to the dome as a pair of heavy doors sat below the balcony.
Attached to the circular dome was a large three story tall chateau. Most of the roof was flat except for two tall pointed peaks on the east and west sides of the structure, giving it a castle-like appearance mixed with a sixteenth century English Mansion. Tall cone styled trees adorned the front of the building with three-foot high shrubs providing a border and led to a fountain of a lion in an attack position in the center of the yard before the chateau as a roundabout driveway circled it and led away from the massive building.
Making his way down a long corridor, Eric looked over exquisite works of art mounted on the side walls. Paintings from Da Vinci, Raphael, Van Gough, and other artists were displayed from the inside of glass casings. All was quiet until the shrill ringing of his cell phone broke the calmness around him.
"Speak," he said as he answered the device. "I am well aware of the situation and have seen it taken care of… Yes, I know, it has been on my mind for at least a few months but trust me, it will all work out in the end." Seeing one of his servants walking down the hall towards him, he signaled for him to wait a moment before ending the call.
"Master Romano," the servant addressed as he held out a manila folder with several sheets of paper in it. "I'm afraid the tests came back negative."
Opening the folder, Eric let out a long sigh as he flipped through the pages. "Not even close," he mumbled. "Thank you, Evans, are the others here yet?"
"Yes, they are waiting in the laboratory. Shall I announce your arrival?"
"That won't be necessary, I'll announce myself."
"Very well."
Moving past his bowing servant, Eric headed to the laboratory where his guests were waiting. With a press of his thumb to a touchpad, a thick metallic door slid open to reveal a large lab full of state of the art computer equipment. Terminals were lined up along the walls with several stasis pods situated on the right side wall. Three of them were occupied with sleeping individuals within.
The first pod held a bald man wearing a silver body suit. Wires and tubes were plugged into it to keep track of his vitals. The second pod held a young woman with long, flowing red hair in the same suit as well. As for the final pod, a young man with brown hair and red sunglasses over his eyes slept soundly wearing an identical body suit. Name plates over each one labeled them as, C. Xavier, J. Grey, and S. Summers.
"Commander Romano," said one of the men waiting for him. "We are ready to continue with the experiments."
"That won't be necessary, gentlemen. We need one more component and unfortunately, it's not here." Turning to face those in the lab, Eric handed the one closest to him the folder and its contents. "The next phase will require finesse. I believe I shall return to America tomorrow and acquire the last piece of this puzzle. For if I am not at the head of the evolutionary curve, than I will obtain the means to do so."
He then turned to face the group of men. "Suit up my Executioners. We move out at five hundred tomorrow. I shall disable the X-Men from within and take what we require." He then turned towards the sound of approaching footsteps as a tall African man stood at his full seven foot height and crossed his massive arms. "And as for you Replicator, I have a special someone for you to deal with."