Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, they belong to Marvel. OCs are all written up on my profile as to who they go to (I now have micro summaries for mine as well).
Author's note: The wimpy bridge returns!
Anyone remember that? Wimpy Bridge, AKA For A While? Eh, eh? No... oh well that was a a reference to chapter 4. It's kinda a short chapter, but it's all working up to a big moment in the next two chapters.
I have a lot to say to you in the note at the end.
Enjoy. Read. Review.
"I don't trust that girl, Chuck.' Logan said gruffly, as the two men watched Portia Manderson walk out the front gates. A car pulled up and Logan caught a glimpse of his current least favorite reptile. Mr. Severus and Logan shared a glance for a second. The gruff man sneered and Seth merely blinked. Portia opened the passenger side door and hopped in, waving and smirking back at the professor and Wolverine.
He snarled. The professor put a hand on his arm. "Relax, old friend. Her intentions were genuine, though she is growing better at shielding her mind." The professor sighed. "That much is worrisome. They do not completely trust our intentions."
"Well I sure as hell don't trust theirs." Logan grumbled.
The pair watched the car drive off. They had just received Portal's "report" about the night before. She gave additional details about the machine the X-Men hadn't known, namely the frequency used. Whether that was a test of their character to see whether or not they would use it against the Haven mutants they couldn't be sure. It was a powerful weapon to entrust to people they didn't completely trust.
"Well what do we do now?"
Xavier sighed. "I don't know. I guess there's nothing more to do, but go on with our daily lives."
Logan smirked. "So that means a round of Danger Room sessions. I'm sure the kids will love that."
Principal Darth woke up a little bit stiff. Since the dance was the night before he and Claire had stayed in the small house he owned in the suburbs of Bayville. Most nights he stayed there, but occasionally his daughter did too. She hated it normally, but she was pretty shaken up (physically and mentally) and was in no mood for teleporting.
The man stretched and got out of bed. Like his daughter he didn't bother to personalize much, anything could be a temporary residence. All the times they'd moved around proved that. The walls were painted a dim green, and there was an ebony dresser with a mirror against a wall. A matching nightstand stood beside the full-sized bed with equally black headboards and dark gray sheets.
The house only had one floor and a tiny basement. It was pretty modest, Nick put most of his money into trying to supply the Haven, but with their increasing numbers it was becoming difficult. Caring for nearly two hundred teenagers and young adults proved to be a challenge. And now with his added responsibilities as the principal at Bayville High he was losing touch fast with the institution he had worked so hard to set up.
He walked down the hall and ducked his head inside Claire's room. The girl wasn't there, so he continued on. He entered the kitchen, which was simple; the cooking area and dining area was separated by a white counter, and the table and chairs were cheap.
Grinning he leaned against the wall in the doorway and watched his daughter. Clay was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal, absorbed in the newspaper. She was too mature for her own good sometimes.
"Morning." Nick said sweetly, walking over to the life force of all morning wakers: the coffee machine. She had started it up and a cup of coffee was sitting there waiting for him. "You're really the best daughter ever." He laughed, picking up his cup of Joe.
"Mmmhmm." She hummed, not looking up.
Nick came and joined her at the table, peering over her shoulder at the paper. She twitched a little.
"You know I hate it when people read over my shoulder, Nick."
He smiled. "I know."
She looked up irritated. "Then why do you do it?"
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.
Claire huffed and folded up the paper. She shuddered and her currently normal-toned skin tinged gray before reverting back. "Oh God, uck."
Darth placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Not really." She whispered, hugging her arms.
Her father frowned, removing his hand, and looking her in the eyes. "That was some dance, huh?"
"You have no idea, Nick."
"No I don't, want to let me in?"
Clay got her far-off look and then lowered her head. Darth already knew what happened, but he was giving her the chance to explain things from her point-of-view. "There was some sort of sound device, the thing emitted a frequency that crippled those with enhanced healing and made me lose my form. You know intense vibrations can cause my shape-shifting to work against me… but this frequency literally tore me apart. P-pyro from Magneto tried to take me, I can only imagine what the hell he would've done. Would've had me too if it wasn't for Leo—" She paused, her eyes flashing.
Darth's face was perplexed. A mix of fatherly protection, keen curiosity, and amusement. "Leo… the boy you were with after the dance, right? Leo Dyson… are you two—?"
"Uhhh." She looked away from him and rubbed her forearms. Surprisingly her bronze wrist guards were there, an odd addition to her flannel pajamas. "Well I mean… uhh…"
Nick couldn't help but laugh. "You kissed him! You did, it's all over your face!" His comment made him seem younger, more like the man Clay had known for so long.
She glared angrily at him, but she blushed. "Shut up, shut up! Nicholas Darth, you are intolerable!"
He continued to laugh, his suspicions confirmed. "This is great! My little Claire, and Leo."
She was too busy being embarrassed by him to care about the name slip. She buried her head in her hands. "Oh God, this is not happening!"
Her father stopped laughing, but kept a humorous air. "This is truly fantastic. Who would have thought! You're always so bottled up. I hope he works for you, because I think this can work for us."
Claire frowned. "What do you mean?"
He looked excited. "The visions we've had, Leo is the key for our survival! If we keep him close—"
"Woah, wait right there!" Clay interrupted, her tone fiery. "I am not with him just for that, I made a connection with him…" Darth fought off a laugh. "NOT LIKE THAT!" She shouted, punching him in the arm. "I swear, I'm more mature than you sometimes Nick." The girl grumbled. "I'm not going to go out with him just so we have a strategic advantage. I just… it would be nice to have someone beside you, you know? To have support…"
"A face to kiss." Darth whispered, earning another punch from his daughter.
"I swear, I will slit your throat." She growled, her gaze was nearly enough to kill all by itself. "This conversation is so done."
Darth chuckled, and watched her grab the newspaper again. He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "You know I only tease because I love. I only want what's best for you, and Leo may prove to be as such."
Leo wouldn't say he was stalking… but… he was stalking. What happened at the dance had surprised him. Was Claire Darth really into him, or had it just been…
Come on, you're a ladies man. Why are you so wigged over this? Leo swore at himself.
He peered around a corner in the school hallway. He'd been following Claire around all day. Again, he was so stalking, but he was honestly interested in what the heck the girl had done with his heart.
Claire was talking with another girl by the lockers, who he recognized as Zendi Idnez, AKA Knife. He found that a little odd. Claire was an upperclassman, and he was pretty sure Zendi was a sophomore. Interaction was a bit less likely between the two, but then again he had made friends with Ashley Wolfe, who was a freshman. Well he had been friends with her… things were weird now that she was openly Haven.
That made him think of Enrique, and he scowled. He didn't like that they kept things from him; but he hated that it put a wrench in his friendship with the boy. It made for awfully awkward Biology classes.
Anyways he just kind of watched from around the corner, waiting for Claire to walk off by herself.
Zendi lightly punched Claire in the shoulder. "So you made a move on Leo, I hear."
Claire rolled her green eyes. "Honestly Zen, why do I ever tell you things?"
The tan girl laughed and made a kissing face. "You and Leo, aww." She stumbled a little back as Claire shoved her playfully. "I have to say though, you're taste ain't that bad. He's incredibly muscular, and man is he funny!"
"I'm going to die…" Claire hissed, banging her head against the lockers.
Her friend laughed. "Everyone seems pretty thrilled for you. Maybe they're hoping you'll start going easy on us! How terribly wrong they will be."
The girl glared at her, stopping her head mid-bang. "If I have to hear one more quip from Fox-Face, I will gut him."
Zendi's face fell a little, and she lowered her voice. The school day was ending, so more students filled the halls preparing for their departures. "You don't realize why he's doing that?"
The green-eyed girl stood up straight and blinked. "What do you mean?"
"You've really been out of it. I know you've been stressed, but pay a little more attention to your friends, or you'll lose touch like your father." Zendi shook her head, and muttered something in Italian. "He's doing it for Enrique."
"Uh, that makes no sense." Claire stated, utterly confused.
Zendi sighed. "Let's talk about this later." A grin grew across her face. "Your stalker is right behind us."
"What?" Then she saw Leo staring at them. She face-palmed. "Go Zen, and don't let me catch you sticking to the ceiling like some sorta spider-girl."
The Italian grinned hugely and gave her a look as she walked on.
As more students walked by Claire called out. "You gonna come out stalker-boy?"
Leo's face burned. He shuffled toward her. "I uh, I wasn't—"
"Shut it." She stopped him.
And she's back. Leo groaned. It appeared that Claire had a bit of a school persona.
She sighed. "I'm sorry." She rubbed her wrists. "It's just—"
Leo grabbed her hand. "Were you avoiding me this weekend? I wanted to talk about what happened, are you okay?"
Claire blinked. "Uh, no. I was havin' a weekend with my father. No cellphones." She brought her eyebrows together. "Were you worried about me?"
The boy didn't meet her eyes, and stared at their hands. "Well I mean, you seemed pretty shaken up. From where I was it looked like you were falling apart."
She rubbed the back of her neck. "I kinda was. Listen, Leo…" She paused. "Do you want to go somewhere?"
He smiled. "Do you promise to be that girl from the dance?"
Claire laughed. "I suppose so, sorry… I've just had a hectic past few weeks. My friends would say I deserve some fun."
"Like Zendi?" Leo asked, waiting to judge her reaction.
Her face remained blank. "Yeah, she's the one who really makes a big deal of it."
"Well let's get going then! Wait, dang it! I have work after school." His face fell slightly.
"It's okay, some other time?"
"Yeah… I guess…" He turned to leave, but Claire pulled him back. She kissed the short mutant then gave him a push.
"Go on, see ya later."
He smirked, and backed away bowing. "As you wish, my lady."
She snorted. "Go, before I change my mind."
The Dyson's yellow truck pulled into the zoo parking lot. Leo jumped out basically the second it came to a stop, and bolted for the employee entrance. His good mood was bound to be catching.
The teen bounded to the entrance and waited to be let in. Two familiar faces made their way over to him.
"Misssster Dyssson. Ssso good to sssee you again." Mr. Severus hissed. There was a toothless smile on his face.
Mr. Walkman accompanied him. "Welcome back Leo. I hope you still remember how to do your job."
"Of course I do. Thank you for the second chance!"
A deep growl rumbled through the dark room. There was a funny scream, and an orange and red figure was tossed into the center of the metallic room. One light glowed from the ceiling, casting its meager glow onto a metal chair.
"Hey, watch it there Sabretooth! This costume is rather pricy!" Pyro. He brushed himself off as he stood. There were several tears in his uniform, and the lines connecting his fists to the fuel supply on his back were severed.
"Well, well. You failed me again, Pyro." A dark voice echoed behind him.
Pyro froze, fear creeping into his eyes. He coughed. "Uh, hey there Magneto. Believe it or not I was just on my way—"
"Silence!"
The pyromaniac cringed and shut up.
Sabretooth growled from somewhere within the shadows. "You should have sent me, I wouldn't have failed you."
"Quiet now. We have another plan, sadly I feared this would occur." Magneto stepped out of the shadows, levitating just off the ground. "Your failure will not hinder us. We move on."
Pyro couldn't help but get an icky feeling all over. Some of Magneto's plans bothered him, even if he got to play with fire. What he saw next only confirmed his feelings.
A pair of yellow eyes glowed out of the dark behind the Master of Magnetism.
"No…" Pyro whispered, backing up. He crashed into Sabretooth. "Ya outa be dead!"
"Hmm, like I've never heard that one before." A female voice crooned. "But I have a job to finish."
Make your guesses now. You should all know who that voice is ^.
Anyways, the next chapter will most likely be slightly point-of-view of Rogue. Also chapter 29 is already written, I'm just polishing it up.
On that note:
IT'LL BE A DOUBLE UPDATE NEXT! YAY! Ain't that grand? Now a warning: When I put the chapters up there will be no author's notes on chap 29, I'll explain why later. Also if you don't want to be left at a horrible cliff hanger for a few weeks, wait to read chapter 29 ("breaking pt") until after I have chapter 30 up. I will be focusing on Haven Origins after 29 goes up and I'll hopefully finish everyone's stories.
Your going to have a lot of questions after my next update, but bear with me. I won't leave you hanging forever.