Rebekah

When the alarm goes off, I'm talking to Kitty, mainly comparing computer systems and being rude about rubbish programs. Yes, I'm a computer geek. And a science nerd. And pretty much an all round geek. I have conversations about whether I would rather have the Doctor or Sherlock Holmes as a flatmate! (I chose David Tennant. My friend chose Benedict Cumberbatch) I follow Kitty into the office. The Professor flashes me a look but doesn't say anything. We've already had a very long talk where I've let him completely scan me and all my memories so he can check I'm not going to do an Isaac on them. Oh, and I had my fun. I pushed countless little details on him, about M-Day, but not what caused it, about Utopia, but not why and his attack of Magneto when he came to join the X-Men. I'm not exactly best pleased with the Professor. Especially since I started researching Deadly Genesis. Oh, I hammered that in even deeper, the faces of Vulcan and Darwin, Petra and Sway.

"We've had reports of a mutant testing facility in Washington. We're sending you in."

Kitty sticks her hand up.

"What is it Shadowcat?"

"Is Bekah coming?"

"I… I don't think it is advisable."

Okay, that was a bad idea. Now I really want to go.

"Not a good idea to keep me cooped up in a building where there's lots of scientific equipment and I've just had a brilliant idea about a new explosive."

Beast goes pale. Yes, I've resorted to threatening his labs. The Professor inclines his head.

"According to Beast and Wolverine you held yourself up remarkably when captured. You may go, but must not engage either Magneto or Isaac in combat if you happen to meet them there."

"Yes…Professor."

"I imagine one of Kitty's uniforms will fit you until we can get you a new one. You won't be able to shift in it, but we will work on creating a shifting version."

I nod because that's the polite thing to do and as soon as I'm out of the room I hug Kitty. She grins and punches my shoulder.

"It's great to have another girl on the team!"

I grin and let her help me cut the uniform, leaving a space for my tail, cutting the wrists and ankles where I'm too tall, giving me an old pair of Jean's boots because my feet are too big for Kitty's but discarding them because my feet are paws now, with strong pads that give me better grip and protection than boots. I strap myself into the Blackbird and Kurt grins at me before mouthing something that looks suspiciously like 'I love Wose'. I snigger and he grins again. Logan has banned us from mentioning the lisp. And the allergies. And when he got to the clothes he just glared. But we can still joke around about it. Kitty frowns and I shake my head. She makes a face then grins.

"So whatcha calling yourself?"

"Huh?"

"X-Man name. Gotta have one."

"Er…"

"Felina?"

"No. Just…no."

"Cat?"

"We can't have Cat and Shadowcat. That would just get confusing."

"Felidae?"

"Sounds like a tick medicine."

"Er… Panthera?"

"Panthera… I like it."

And then we land and pad into the building, constantly on our guard and Jean…Phoenix… shudders and then yells 'IT'S A TRAP!' and we run, leap and dodge. And then I catch a scent and freeze. And then turn and run deeper into the base, slipping away in the fighting. And I enter a room where the Brotherhood are all chained up. I turn to leave but the words roll around my head. A mutant testing facility. A. Mutant. Testing. Facility. I turn back and Isaac's dark eyes meet mine.

"Going to laugh?"

"No."

And I walk over to the plastic chains that hold Isaac and shatter them.

"Get out. Get out because the X-Men are here and I'm not going to help you again. There's no debts now. All that remains is you're a Brotherhood member. And I'm standing with the X-Men."

And I turn and go, knowing he won't follow. Because he has his team to free, as I have mine to back up.

Isaac

I shook off the chains with frustration. Of all the people it had to be Bekah? I growled angrily and bend down to pluck the syringe out of my leg.

Our captors had discovered that putting an inhibitor on me didn't seem to work so they had resorted to using some kind of strange injection. It burnt like hell and it meant I couldn't use any of my powers at all. My theory on the collar was it stopped my mutant ability to take powers, but it couldn't do anything about the powers that I had already taken.

I tried to wrench the collar off Magneto but I couldn't break it. Magneto opened his eyes.

"What happened?" He said in a hoarse voice.

"They took my powers. I'm helpless."

"You're never helpless. You're stronger then you think."

Then he fainted.

"What have they done to you?" I said more to myself than to anyone else.

"I believe the term they used was 'work him over'," someone said.

I turned to look at Quicksilver.

"What?"

"They were torturing him," he said bluntly. I turned to look at Magneto. He was in a coma of some sort. I turned to Quicksilver.

"Can you get out of those?" I said pointing to his chains and collar.

"It'll take me a minute but yeah I can."

"As soon as you're free come and help me. I'll need it," I said already on the move. It felt unnatural to be powerless. I felt like someone who had just taken off their roller skates after wearing them for hours on end. I ran on, every step feeling awkward compared to the speed I was used to.

I hid as a guard came around the corner. I saw a card key hanging of his belt. I took a deep breath and lunged for the key. My fingers connected with the key and I yanked it off. The guard swung round and grabbed me before I could make a run for it.

"Stinking mutie," he muttered punching me in the face.

The force of the blow knocked me off my feet. I rubbed my face as tears sprang to my eyes. Did humans hate mutants this much? The man raised his boot and brought it crashing down onto my face. I felt my nose break and warm blood flow out of my

nose like a stream. The man stamped down onto me again but this time onto my gut. I doubled over in agony.

As the man raised his boot again, a blue cyclone knocked him off his feet. I felt a hand pull me up. My head was spinning like a tornado. I almost retched but I managed to get it under control.

Wordlessly, I passed the key to Quicksilver and he disappeared. Less than ten seconds later I heard the Brotherhood come storming down the hall. Blob quickly threw me over his shoulder and we were away. I slipped into unconsciousness.

Nothing could stop the Brotherhood's wrath. They were like a stampede of elephants. Many humans died that day.

When I next woke up we were in the metal plane on our way back to the mansion. Magneto was badly injured but somehow he was managing to keep us up in the air. The journey back was completely ilent. As soon as we landed everyone padded back indoors without a word. I tramped up to my bed.

I fell into it with relish and dropped straight off to sleep.