Disclaimer: I do not own the DC characters of Hawk and Dove, whom I loosely based my main characters on.

Sweat poured down Dan's face, droplets collecting at his temples and in the ends of his hair. His breathing came in shallow pants. He leaned further forward, hands on his knees, trying to gather himself a bit. He wasn't used to sweating, because his body was always unnaturally warm and it never needed to cool itself down. But then again, he had never exerted himself like this before.

"Maybe that was too hard?" Phil offered sheepishly, though he also sounded out of breath.

"No," Dan said firmly, "Just… give me a second to adjust."

Phil didn't answer, but his feet stilled on the mat where Dan could see them. He always knew Phil was slightly taller than he was, but Dan didn't expect him to pack so much power in those few centimeters. Even without using his abilities, he was very close to completely overpowering Dan.

"Come on, Hawk," Jim said from outside the sparring ring, "No adversary is going to give you a second to adjust."

Dan straightened and narrowed his eyes. "No adversary is going to tell me I can't burn them," he retorted.

Jim simply crossed his arms. "You want to know how to fight, you have to learn how to throw a punch," he said, "And take one. But it seems as though you can already do that."

"I'm sorry!" Phil said quickly, his voice muffled since his hands were pressed over his mouth.

Dan looked over and waved his hand. "Stop apologizing. This is what we signed up for."

"Let's go, boys, we don't have time," Jim said, tapping his foot impatiently.

Dan huffed, because he was right. Combat training was not the most pleasant thing in the world, but they had to do a lot of it if they were going to be ready to take on MI5 agents. And they had to do it quickly, as they were racing to train up before the labs could make more enhanced agents with Dan's blood. According to Felix and Marzia, they were closer and closer every day.

Dan and Phil had the idea to train with Jim as just the two of them. The entire team was going through it, but as the top authority, the two of them needed to be good to set an example. So, every day, they got an extra two hours with faster paced lessons. After a week of basics, they were onto sparring. That's when Dan discovered that even though he had a good grip on the heat now, he still had so much to work on.

Dan looked over at his partner. "Let's go again," he said.

Phil nodded. Dan took a breath and raised his hands in front of him, and waved Phil forward. Then they started again. Phil aimed a punch for Dan's face but he ducked under it, grabbing Phil's wrist and slinging him across the ring. He stumbled and Dan took a moment to breath, but then Phil was on him again, and he took a well-aimed elbow to his ribs. Dan sucked in a breath, ignoring the bloom of pain, and raised his arm for his own strike. They each blocked a few blows to their faces and then Dan kneed Phil's stomach. He stumbled and doubled over, and Dan jumped on his back and put his arm around Phil's neck. He pulled so that Phil's back was against his chest and tried to think of what to do next. And just when Dan thought he had the upper hand, Phil dropped to his knees and flipped Dan right over his shoulder. Dan landed hard on his back, the mat making a soft 'poof' noise as he did.

"Goddammit!" Dan exclaimed, kicking his legs in frustration.

Phil leaned over him, looking sheepish. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Dan sighed. "It's not your fault I suck," he replied dejectedly, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he said with a nod. He walked around and held out a hand to help Dan up. When he was back on his feet, Jim cleared his throat.

"Well done, Dove," he said, "Now, I think I see the problem. Dan thinks too much."

Dan's expression became confused. "I think too much?" he repeated slowly.

Jim sighed. "You're doing all the right things, but you're pausing too long in between each of your attacks to think of what to do next. That's giving your opponent enough time to overpower you," he said.

"How do I fix that?" he asked, crossing his arms while Phil pressed his hand against a bruise on Dan's jaw. The cold stung a little, but he didn't react.

"Get out of your head," said Jim simply.

Dan gave him a look. Yeah, that was easy. "Thanks," he grumbled. He gently removed Phil's hand from his face. The spot didn't ache anymore. He mouthed a thank you to Phil and then the double doors opened at the end of the room.

Zoe skipped in, her smile bright, with a boy trailing behind her. It was the one that they got out of the lab, who Dan hadn't spoken to since he was still in an infirmary bed. He looked much better now; his face had gained color, and he kept right up with Zoe's fast pace. Dan felt a little guilty that he didn't know much about the new people.

"Hello, boys," she said, giving them all a warm smile, "This is Troye. He's going to join us in training today."

"How are you feeling?" Phil asked the smaller boy, looking concerned.

Troye wrung his hands. "Much better," he replied and gave them a little smile.

"Fine," Jim said, "I think someone is done with getting his butt kicked today anyway."

Dan narrowed his eyes at Jim, but then in the corner of his eye he watched Troye shift uncomfortably. He doubted the smaller boy was ready for combat training, considering that he went through much more in the labs, but Dan admired him. Everyone was going to learn basics in defense, but someone small like Troye was hardly going to go into combat any time soon.

Phil hopped out of the ring first, and Dan was right behind him. "How are things going?" he asked Zoe, "You've been spending a lot of time with the trainees, right?"

She nodded. "A lot of the younger ones are catching onto their powers quickly. Alfie and Carrie keep the stress down low and they're very encouraging. Joe and Caspar are a little hard on them sometimes, but they defend themselves in saying everyone needs to understand the severity of our situation. All in all, everything is balanced well and we have low numbers of people wanting to quit." She punctuated her report with a pleasant smile. The boys frowned.

"But that means there are some out there who want to quit," said Phil dejectedly. He hated feeling like he wasn't doing enough.

Zoe's expression faded just a bit. "Well, there are always going to be, aren't there? We're in a bit of a bind around here. The problem with this… genesis of mutants is that a lot of them are children, even younger than you, and they're just a handful of what's out there. They just don't understand and they're seeing these things we're having them do like they see school; just more work to do," she said.

Phil pouted just a bit. Dan spoke up. "Well, we can't please everyone-"

"Wait," Phil said quickly, "What did you say? What of mutants?"

Zoe thought a few moments. "Er, genesis of mutants, I think. It means beginning."

"Right. I think… that might be a good team name for us. Genesis. The Mutant Genesis. The beginning, it's cute," he continued.

Dan nodded, passing a smile at Zoe. She smiled back. "I like it, Phil. Maybe we'll keep that after all," he said and then gave Zoe a hard look. "And I don't appreciate your insinuation that I'm a child, by the way," he added, trying lighten the mood back up.

"Please," she said, and Dan was thankful that she smiled and rolled her eyes, "You're still in your teenage years. And you will be for another two!"

"Not really! I'll be nineteen in…" he trailed off, pausing as he realized he didn't know what day it was. In fact, he didn't even have a clue. "I'll be nineteen soon. That's almost twenty and that's adult-ish."

"Yeah, right," Jim added from across the room.

"Who asked you?" Dan chided, although there was particularly less malice in his voice than when he usually spoke to the former agent.

Phil chuckled a little, and from behind Zoe, Troye was smiling. At least there was a little comfort for him in their banter. It was true that Dan and Phil felt disconnected from the trainees, especially the younger ones, but among the higher ranks there was a very warm feeling of friendship or even family. They would have to fix that other thing.

Then others started to fill in for their combat lesson as well. Marcus and Alfie arrived first and were trailed by Chris and PJ, the latter looking just as unexcited as he usually did this time of day. He made the argument that if Louise didn't have to do combat, he didn't either; his place was in the lab on the other side of the coms. The only real reason PJ was around was because Dan felt slightly incomplete without the entire foursome that started all of this.

Carrie skipped over to give them all hugs. "Hello, boys. When do I get to fight you?" she chirped. She asked them every day.

"Maybe when Dan learns how to throw a punch," Zoe supplied and covered her mouth to shield her giggles. Dan was giving her a dark glare.

"I can produce flames, I will never need to punch someone!"

Carrie laughed too, but continued on her way to stand with some of the other girls. Emma and Dodie were among them. Dodie looked over and met Dan's eyes. She waved with a little smile. Dan waved back, managing a smile in return. Seeing Dodie and being reminded of the MI5 mission gave him a pang of anxiety, as usual, but half of that pang was also guilt over not speaking to her since that mission. He added that to his mental list of things to do in the immediate future.

Jim wandered back into the crowd and shouted for everyone to find a partner. This was Dan's least favorite part of the lesson because he wasn't allowed to pair with Phil. He knew it was a fair rule, because they spent all their time together otherwise, but he still complained. Usually it was along the lines of 'you people chose me to be in charge and you're bossing me around, this is a farce'.

Dan watched Zoe head over to Marcus, her favorite partner since Alfie was unfairly strong. With her absence, Troye stood by himself. He again looked vastly uncomfortable. He was part of Dan's team now; what kind of leader was he if he left a kid to fend for himself?

So he walked over. "Hey, Troye. Want to work with me?"

Troye opened and closed his mouth a couple times. "You… want to be help me?" he asked.

Dan shifted on his feet, a little uncomfortable as well. "Yes. That's why I'm asking," he said.

Troye cleared his throat. "Sorry, it's just… you seem a little more important than me," he said.

Shaking his head, Dan waved a hand. "Nah. We're all on the same level here," he assured. He nodded towards the crowd of pairs, and they stood at the edge. Phil and Carrie were across the room.

Jim instructed them on new disarming tactics. One was simple; snatch the weapon –in a safe place– and then hit the other hand out of the way. The other one was more complicated and involved a chokehold, which Dan was not prepared to try on little Troye. And he wasn't sure it would work vise versa either.

When practicing began around the room, Dan turned to his partner. "Right. So I'll go first, I-"

"Okay," Troye replied a little too quickly, cutting him off.

Dan frowned and nodded. He put up his arms, pantomiming holding a weapon, but Troye's gaze was elsewhere. He was more focused on everyone else. Dan relaxed and followed the other's gaze. There were distinctive snaps of hands hitting wrists, and little grunts as a stronger partner pushed a bit too hard. Troye who was wringing his hands again. He looked nervous and winced every time a hand came in contact with flesh. Dan pursed his lips. If he had a stress reaction after being held in the labs for a little over a day, he couldn't think of what Troye had been through. He didn't even know how long the kid was there.

He swallowed. "Come on," he muttered to Troye, reaching out towards him.

Troye stepped back, flinching. Obviously a learned response as he immediately crossed his arms and looked guilty about it. Dan sighed and tried again and this time Troye didn't shy away. Dan approached him and braced his arm around Troye's shoulders, and then started to move them away from the crowd towards the door.

Jim noticed and called out. "Hey, where are-"

Dan looked over his shoulder and silenced him with one hand. Jim may have the most knowledge in fighting, but Dan was still in charge of everything else. Usually he was more polite, but being mentally stable was more important than being physically fit.

Troye paused in the hallway and looked up at Dan. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did," he replied, "I understand why you were anxious in there. Do you, uh," He paused, slightly awkward, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Want to talk about it?"

The boy shifted, looking down at the floor. "I don't know," he muttered.

Dan huffed and sat on the floor. Now Troye was looking down at him. "I must have been in captivity for much less time than you were, but still even thinking about the Thames Building makes me shiver. Phil and I try to keep everything going and make final decisions around here, so I ignored the anxiety to try and get back to my job. But it didn't get better until I told Phil everything," he explained.

Troye looked over, frowning. He didn't have someone like Dan had Phil, and that was understood, but if they were similar at all Troye needed to talk.

"Louise has already tried to get it out of me. A couple times," he said, sitting beside Dan on the floor.

Dan smiled just a little. "She thinks with less compassion and more logic," he agreed.

Troye nodded. "I guess talking to you would be different," he said, leaning his head back against the wall, "You were there, in the lab. I also owe my life to you. And Dodie and Phil."

"I got myself into that mess. You really didn't have a choice," said Dan.

Troye took a breath and closed his eyes. "No, I really didn't. I'm not from England, you know. I was born in South Africa, spent a lot of my childhood there. No one was like me. I had a handle on my powers very early," he said and chuckled, "So early in fact I sent clones to school for me before I was even eight. Naturally that meant I didn't do so well when I actually went to school."

"Page told me you and the others couldn't control your powers well," Dan said curiously.

Troye looked over and grinned a little. "That's because I lied about it. It's true about Jack and Tanya, but I lied to try and get myself off easier. A learned that skill from the sending clones to school thing."

Dan nodded, listening carefully. He only knew the backstories of Phil, Zoe, and Louise out of everyone in the compound. "What are your clones like?" he wondered.

"They're just like me. No one can ever tell between them and me, until they get touched. You'll pass right through them like they're ghosts. So, back in South Africa, it didn't take long for them to figure out that the clone Troyes were a little wrong," he replied and shook his head, "So, when that happened, my parents did all they could to keep the school quiet. Then we moved to England and I tried to keep my powers under wraps, but it made me… itchy. On the inside. Like they needed to get out. So I let them out every once in a while, and I guess I was seen by the wrong person."

"Then what happened?" Dan asked, his tone quieter. He could tell the conversation was going towards darker territory.

Troye swallowed. "Government agents had to come and basically pull me out of my house. My parents weren't about to let me go, but they threatened arrest, so I made them. It was breaking the law, you know, keeping me. Then in the labs… they did awful things, probably things that are similar to what they did to you. Accept I got more, well, personal attention to get my clones to show themselves so they could be studied. It never worked, because like I said I can control it really well."

Dan decided not to ask about the tests. Troye already looked more comfortable and he didn't want to ruin that. "That's why you didn't want to be around the training room, and why Jim makes you nervous," said Dan.

The boy nodded. "I thought I was ready. Apparently not," he murmured.

"You will be, eventually," Dan sighed, "At least that's what I hear. You don't have to go back to MI5 until you know you can take it."

"Are you ready? I know you're planning an attack," Troye said, looking over.

Dan was the one who closed his eyes that time. He wasn't ready. He didn't want to go back but he had a team to lead. "No. Everyone knows it, too. But I can't sit back and let everyone go in for me. I've been here far too long to allow that," he said.

"I understand," Troye nodded again, "I wish you luck. I will forever be grateful for you, Dan. You really saved our lives."

Dan grinned at him. "That's all we want to do, to save lives. Keep our own people safe and get rid of the stigma on mutants," he said.

"You could keep everyone else safe too," Troye grinned too, "Like the X-Men."

Dan chuckled. "You're not the first person to say that," he said.

"It's a good point. Everyone here has the capacity to be a real life superhero," Troye pointed out.

Dan had considered it. Their own facility, their code names, their powers, their team. They did seem like a band of superheroes. Page even said it to him back in the lab. "We'll have to wait and see," he conceded, and with another smile Troye seemed mollified.

That evening, a group of them gathered up all the blankets they could find and decided to sit outside. Phil was the one who pointed out that they never did anything fun anymore, not since breaking the rules had proven to not be breaking the rules anymore. So Dan and Phil brought the comforters from their room and met the others outside, in a grassy stretch outside the fence of the junkyard.

If no one looked at the heaps of rusting metal, it was actually quite nice.

Dan and Phil sat with their backs against the fence, and everyone else made a circle. Zoe and Alfie shared a blanket and sat across from them. Louise, Chris, PJ, Carrie, Marcus, and Joe joined them.

"Where's Caspar?" Zoe asked her brother while she leaned into Alfie's side.

Joe shrugged. "Probably in bed. We're not attached at the hip, you know," he said.

"Might as well be," Marcus added, "Dan and Phil two-point-oh."

"Oi, we're not attached," Dan argued, although he was currently holding Phil's hand in his lap.

There were some grunts of disbelief until Carrie sighed loudly. "It's nice out here, isn't it? No noise, no lights. Peaceful," she said.

"I'm sure it would be even nicer if we weren't confined here against our will," Chris added with an innocent smile, and Louise gave him a sharp look.

"Hey," said Phil, gently defensive, "We're making a difference out there now. And we stay here to keep ourselves safe."

Zoe jumped in. "He's right. Dan told me Troye talked to him today for a while and told him how he felt. Didn't he?"

Dan nodded. "He did. He says he owes his life to Phil, Dodie, and me."

"Does everyone forget we helped?" Marcus said and gave Zoe a high-five. Then he turned to Alfie and said, "I don't think so."

Alfie, whose mouth had been open, closed it for a moment. "That's why."

Everyone else looked confused. "What?" Chris piped up.

Marcus looked sheepish. "Sorry, the mind reader thing. Alfie was wondering if anyone informed our newest members of the entire rescue mission," he explained.

"I think that might be overkill," PJ said, "That's over now. Dan is home and back in action. Tanya is up and walking around now with some color in her cheeks. I think we should focus on the coming attack."

"I agree. We need to shift the focus," Louise said.

Joe looked skeptical. "But we still don't know-"

Phil suddenly let go of Dan's hand. "Enough!" he exclaimed, "We are sitting outside, in the summer, on blankets under the stars. I do not want to keep talking about missions and tactics. Can we just… be friends? Play truth or dare, or have a bonfire?"

Everyone just sort of stared. Phil had a very, very good point. Ever since this operation started, all they've really talked about as a group is fighting. Eat, train, sleep, repeat. No more games, no more playing around, which was fair considering how much work they had to do and all the pressure they were under. But, realistically, there was always downtime. And they were all still young.

Phil was right. Of course he was.

"Bonfire," Marcus cleared his throat, "We need something to burn."

Alfie jumped up, nearly knocking Zoe right on her side. "I'll go find something," he declared and jogged towards the gate of the junkyard.

"What are we going to light it with out here?" asked Joe, frowning. Dan simply raised a brow and waited for him to figure it out. Then Joe met his gaze and blushed. "Oh."

A few minutes later Alfie returned with something over his shoulder. He dropped it in the middle of their circle and crossed his arms smugly. It was an old car seat, from one of the two front ones. The upholstery was grey and fuzzy. "There. How's that for a bonfire?" he asked, gesturing from Phil to the seat.

Phil just smirked and looked at Dan. The latter rose to his knees and scooted a little closer. All at once heat pooled in the tips if his fingers and they lit up in little blue, but very hot flames. With a flick of his wrist the flames hopped onto the seat, which went up almost immediately. Dan settled back in next to Phil, who looked satisfied.

"There," Carrie said firmly with a nod of her head, "This is what us young people are supposed to do."

"We're missing one thing," Chris said loudly.

Alfie snapped his fingers. "Wine coolers!"

"Exactly!"

Everyone laughed. There were smiles all around. Zoe asked when the last time anyone had a wine cooler was, and the group broke into stories about first time drunkenness and the like. Dan told them about Alex, his most important ex-girlfriend, and the entire time Phil seemed interested and even sympathetic. The others all told stories of exes and pubescent mistakes as well. The curious questions and the laughter that ensued afterwards distracted them from their impending battle meetings and detail debriefs. For a while, they weren't a group of young mutants trying to be heroes. They were just young.

I promise I'm working diligently on this story, even if I'm posting scarcely, because I love it so much and I'm dedicated. I currently do not have an internet connection (THE HORROR) so I have to wait until I get somewhere so I can post. Fair warning, this story will probably be wrapping up in just a few chapters! Stay tuned. Now, have any of you been to TATINOF? I went to one in New York and I swear I've never screamed or cried so much in a theater. :') That concluded today's author's note, I love you.