Lorna followed Johnny downstairs with Alex behind her. She already had an idea what was happening, but couldn't be sure yet. It felt like trouble though. The Underground was short of fighters. That is why Lorna was training most of the kids, but they were not enough in case of an attack and not that well trained. She doubted that it is was an attack. Johnny looked in hurry, but wasn't as urgent as she imagined he would be if someone dared to begin an assult against the Underground.
When they stepped on the first floor Lorna could hear Shatter in the distance.
"We've got incoming!" He said "Marcos, Marcos, they are coming. They got past the defenses."
"Who did?" Marcos said
One the first floor all the members were looking at the stairs as three identical pairs of heels could be heard clicking on the floor in the distance. The triplets reached the spot where the stairscase began and stopped, looking at the mutants with identical smirks on their faces.
A moment of silence passed until someone spoke. Lorna could feel the tension in the air. She peaked at Alex, who looked confused, but ready to fight.
"What are they doing here?" Cailtlin asked with more surprise than hostility in her voice.
"What the hell do you want?" Marcos asked at his turn.
"Calm down-" Phoebe said
"There's no need to get excited-" Sophie said
"We are just here to talk" Esme finished
The three of them looked so calm together.
Lorna remembered Esme's eagerness to help save her family from Trask. Her act of a scared girl. It was all gone now. It's place taken by her real face: a manipulative telepath. Now they were three of them, far stronger together.
"Talk about what?" Johnny asked
"We need your help" The sisters said, the smirks on their faces unchanged.
Another tensed moment passed and the triples walked down the stairs and stopped on the platform, where the staircase devided in two.
"We will get right to the point" One of the triples said
"We are here about the Hounding program" They said at the same time.
Lorna had appeared to be right. They were back, because of the program.
"It is still going on."
"It is looking to expand, in fact" One of the triples added.
"We want your help to stop it"
"What?! You came in here and lied to us." Marcos said with a bitter voice "What, now you want our help?"
He sounded angry, probably because Esme tazed him, when they went to rescue the Strucker kids.
"You used us, so you could slauther those agents at the lab" Johnny said
"We did what we had to do" Esme argued
She went down the last couple of steps.
"I saved your children. Did I mislead you, yes, so you would do what had to be done. And as for your plan, to ask Sentinel Services to give up nicely. That would have ended with as many corpses, but they would have yours." She said
Lorna narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Esme managed to slaughter so many agents without blinking. The three sisters were, probably, more powerful together. Sentinel Services can't stop them now. The question is why the Frosts needed their help, if they had that much power. Maybe the needed numbers.
"Why do you need us?" Lorna asked
"Yeah, I saw you three controlling people's minds. You can handle this on your own." Clarice agreed.
"They know what we look like-"
"so we can't take on Sentinel Services by ourselfs-"
"but we have to act now."
The triples took turns to finish the sentence.
Lorna had a hard time telling them apart, but she was sure that Esme was the one in the middle.
"Make no mistake, the humans will come for us all" She said
"We have information about Campbell's plans, recourses to share."
"Meanwhile you have-"
"muscle."
Caitlin looked around.
"Hang on. Are we seriously considering this. " The woman looked genuinely surprised and shaken.
"No, no we are not, we are not going to listen to this anymore" Marcos said irritated.
That seemed very unreasonable from him. They needed allies. The Frosts had recourses, which the Underground lacked. They also had a common enemy in Campbell's face, making a possible betrayal from the Frosts unlikely. They also knew what needed to be done to survive. For Lorna survival was the top priority. Marcos on the other hand cared more about moral. She loved, how he had faith in people, but also knew that this faith blinded him and made them more vulnerable.
"Enough! We are not debating this, not here, not now. We heard what you had to say. Now you need to leave." Johnny calmed the situation.
"Think it over-"
"don't take too long-"
"we will be back. "
The Frosts turned on their heels and left the headquarters the same way they entered.
For a moment everything was silent. The other members started to slowly leave the room and return to their normal activities.
Lorna turned to Alex, who looked thoughtful.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked him.
"Nothing, they just looked awfully familiar" Alex said, tightening his lips in thought.
"Do you know them?" Lorna asked surprised.
"I don't think I do, but... they just... give me a familiar vibe" Alex said, like he couldn't find the words to describe it.
"Come on, Sage said that she will look into them soon" Lorna said "In the meantime you haven't met the others"
"Yeah, I guess I was distracted by your presence." Alex said rubbing his back. "Let's go"
Lorna led Alex to one of the side room of the building. It was smaller than the others and he supposed that here the leaders were discussing their decisions. It looked suitable for such actions.
When they entered they were three people there already. Alex recognized Marcos and Johnny, but not the woman with the purple hair.
"Okay Alex, you already met Marcos and this is... " Lorna began, but Alex cut her in mid-sentence.
"Johnny Proudstar" He smiled
"Who you obviously, already know" Lorna frowned. "Was it necessary for you to interrupt me or you are just being your usual annoying self?" She asked with a grin on her face.
"I will bet on the second option" Johnny said with a grin of his own. "It's good to see you again" He said and the two men exchanged a hug.
"Good to see you too" Alex smiled and turned to Clarice.
"Alex Summers" He introduced himself, lifting his hand for a shake.
"Clarice Fong" The woman replied and shook his hand.
Her lips were tighten and her eyes slightly narrowed. Alex could say she wasn't very trusting. After all of his years as an X-man, reading people's body language wasn't hard.
"Guys, I found the information about the sister's that you needed" Sage peeped in the room.
"Lets see what we are dealing with" Johnny said and everyone followed him outside.
Alex wasn't sure if he had to go with them, but his own curiosity urged him to do so. The blond hair, blue eyes, the girls's smirks and calmness were all too familiar. Clarice mentioned that they could control minds. It only made Alex's suspicion deeper.
All them gathered around Sage's computers
" Esme, Sophie and Phoebe" Sage said as pictured of three girl appeared on the computer screen
"Spunky" Clarice commented
"Do they have a last name?" Johnny asked
"Frost, but they use new aliases every week. When Sophie and Phoebe were arrested they gave their last name as Cuckoo. Probably, just to piss of the cops." Sage explained.
It was like someone had punched the air out of him. A memory of a tall telepathic woman with blond hair and blue eyes filled his mind. Emma Frost. Once part of the Hellfire club, then the first incarnation of the Brotherhood and the X-men's main telepath after the presumed death of Jean.
Alex stepped back from the surprise. Were these girls Emma's dauthers? They were too young to be her sisters. The resemblance was too uncanny for them to be her cousins either.
Who was the father though? Since Emma had left the Brotherhood and joined the X-men, she had been involved with only one man. Alex's mind went to Scott and he felt a lump in his stomach. That was impossible. Scott was too young to have children, who were that grown up. Emma herself wasn't that old, but the story there was confusing as hell.
After Emma was believed to had been killed by Trask along with Sean, the Professor had found both of them in one of Stryker's facilities on Three Mile Island in an attempt to find Scott, who had been kidnapped as well. He had taken them both in the mansion and Emma explained that she had managed to switch her body with a girl that had already been dead. They looked alike and Emma had settled in a younger body than her previous one.
Maybe she had children with another man, before the body swap. That was a possibility too.
Alex didn't know if she was still alive. After the X-men had disbanded everyone had gone into a different direction. He couldn't keep in touch with any of them. It was safer that way.
"Are you okay?" Lorna put a hand on his shoulder. "You look stunned"
"I am fine" Alex said, giving her a smile.
He looked around and saw that Johnny wasn't there anymore.
"Where is John?" He asked
"We went to set the matter right with two arguing mutants. You really are distracted" Lorna said folding her arms over her chest.
"What else did you find about the triples? " He asked ignoring Lorna's words.
"There is a rumor that they are part of some terrorist group called "The Hellfire Club". Sage said
"That is literally impossible" Alex said "The Hellfire club was destroyed by the X-men. "
"It is a rumor, maybe there are recreating it" Sage said.
"You sound like you know the Frosts" Clarice said
"Not these three, but I believe I knew a relative of theirs." Alex explained "If they are anything like the woman I knew, they will not go empty handed."
"Then we will have to be careful. These girls are bad news." Marcos said
"Is this all Sage?" Lorna asked ignoring Marcos's comment.
"Yes" The black-haired woman said
"Then we have other jobs to attend to. This can wait" Lorna said and headed out of the room.
"She is irritated" Alex noted looking over at Marcos.
"I believe we all are" He said slowly walking away. "I will go and find her"
"Good luck" Alex said and looked around.
The Headquarters were an abandoned bank and the building had it's priorities, considering the size and the vault, that could be used to stock the food and other equipment. Johnny and Lorna had equipped the old for living and it didn't look bad at all.
Alex decided to examine it. It was always good to know your surroundings. God knew what could happen in the near future.
His thoughts swirled to the three identical sisters. Were they aware of who their mother was? There was one more important question, that was eating him up from the inside. Was Emma helping with the recreation of the Hellfire Club? Scott's death hadn't effected only him. When the rest of the team was gathered for the last time with the Professor, Emma had looked distant like never before.
Maybe Scott's death was like a trigger to her to go back to her old approach of things. That was a possibility. She could have also went down her own path or even leading another cell of the Mutant Underground
Alex saw Lorna going out of her room, looking annoyed. Obviously, whatever Marcos had been talking about with her wasn't pleasing.
He cut of her way and she looked up at him with the "I don't want to deal with you now" look.
"You really look pissed" Alex noted and put up a smile. "You okay?"
"Look, I really don't want to talk right now." She said crossing her arms over her chest.
"I see, but I want you to know that I am here, if you ever need to talk. I have a lot to make up to you." Alex said, his smile moved aside by seriousness.
"I know" Lorna said. " I just... believe that we need the Frosts as our allies. They are effective as bad as it sounds."
"And the others don't want that" Alex asked
"At least Marcos doesn't. Johnny thinks that an alliance with them will tear this place apart and Clarice says that she doesn't want to run and hide anymore. On top of that the Struckers are leaving" She sighed and ran a hand thought her short green hair.
"The Struckers?" Alex asked not sure, if he met them here.
"Yeah, Caitlin, Reed, Lauren and Andy. Marcos and the others helped them when Andy manifested rather violently. The parents are humans, but are trustworthy allies and have been helping a lot." Lorna explained.
"Got it" Alex smiled slightly. "If you believe that the Frosts can help, then you have to convince the others. You are four people. You need to talk to Clarice and John. If they agree Marcos loses the vote" He suggested.
"That sounded very democratic and kind of manipulative" Lorna said sounding surprised.
"You sound like you can't believe I have said that" Alex said rising a brow.
"No just... you have changed a lot" Lorna said bitting her lip. "For better or worse"
"What was that supposed to mean?" Alex asked hating the defensive tone he used.
"I remember how careless you were before. It is amazing how the world we live in changes us, isn't it? I see pain in your eyes Summers. You probably won't tell me what is it, but I just want you to know that I am here for you as you are for me"
"You changed the subject from you to me very drastically." Alex pointed out. "I know, you are here, but what happend to me doesn't matter. You can't change the past Lorna. You have your own problems as I can clearly see. You don't need my stories burdening you any further.
"That is your problem" Lorna said pointing him with her finger. "You think that you can keep everything to yourself. You have always been like that, but sometimes sharing with the people close to you can help you feel better, leave some of that burden behind you" She said.
Her green eyes shining from the emotion she was talking with. It made Alex's heart skip a beat. No. He shouldn't be thinking about how much he wanted to kiss her, to hold her. It was wrong, but how could he stop his own feelings.
"The heart wants, what it wants Alex. You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt."
Hank's words echoed deep in his mind and he felt the familiar pain, that he experienced every time he had remembered one of his fallen friends.
Alex didn't know if Sean and Emma were still alive, but Hank was gone. He had been there when the life left him, leaving an empty shell to bury.
He brushed off the thoughts away and forced another small smile.
"When I need to talk, you will be the first one to tell." Alex said "And about the Frosts. They can be good allies, but watch you back with them. These girls will do everything to get what they want."
"We will be careful" Lorna said, nodding slithly.
"That's all I am asking" Alex said and headed to his room.
He couldn't sleep that night. Well, Alex had trouble sleeping every night and this one wasn't any different.
After tossing in the bed for what felt to be eternity, Alex decided to take a walk outside, to have some fresh air.
He put on his coat and headed to the door.
The air was chilly, but it wasn't cold. The sky was clear with a few stars shining up there along with the full moon.
Alex looked up and closed his eyes, feeling the breeze lashing against his face. It felt good, relaxing.
"What are you doing here?" Alex asked reaching his brother.
"I needed some fresh air" Scott shrugged and sat on the grass outside of the Institute. "And you?"
"Couldn't sleep" Alex said sitting next to him. "Did you had another nightmare? He asked
"Yes" Scott said, his eyes glued to the clear blue sky
"What about?"
"The crash. It keeps repeating itself in my head for the past couple of days" Scott said looking at Alex.
"You miss them, that is all. It's normal" Alex said giving his brother a reassuring smile, a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"I know. It doesn't make it hurt less thought" Scott said
"But they are right here" Alex said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"In my heart? Is that what you were going to say. You can't get more cliché, can you?" Scott said with a small smile on his face.
"I wasn't going to say that" Alex said smiling as well. "I meant that they are up there" He said pointing to the stars in the sky.
"How?" Scott asked looking up as well.
"Mom told me once, that when people die, they turn in a star and keep watching over the people they love from the sky." Alex explained
"So they are stars now?" Scott asked
Alex smiled sadly at his little brother.
"At first, it seemed ridiculous to me too, but with the years... I feel better when I look up."
"It isn't ridiculous." Scott said "I can even recognize them"
"How" Alex asked confused
"This is mom and this is dad. Isn't it obvious Alex?" Scott asked
A minute of silence passed between the two brothers until Scott spoke again.
These two are the brightest. Scott said "This one is mom, because she is smaller that the star next to her, but seems to shine brighter. This one is dad, because it is bigger and still shines brightly." The little boy explained, passion driving his voice.
Alex fixed his gaze on the stars with a raised brow.
"Yeah, it is obvious" His features softened, while he listened and turned to his brother. "Scott, you are the most thoughtful 11 years old, you know?"
"Is that a bad thing? Scott asked hesitantly
"Of course not" Alex said and ruffled Scott's hair
Scott chucked "You have to stop doing that"
"Unfortunately for you, I don't want to" Alex said laughing
He got up and offered Scott his hand.
"Let's go. We could both use some sleep." Alex said
The boy took his hand and got up from the grass as well. "Goodnight mom, goodnight dad" He said
Alex's heart melted by his little brother's innocence
Both brothers headed towards the mansion in the dark.
Alex looked up one more time, spotting the two stars, which Scott appointed to be their parents. "Goodnight" He said soundlessly.
He opened his eyes meeting the dark blue sky. Tracing with the path with his finger, Alex reached two stars next to each other. The first one was smaller, but looked brighter and the second one was a little bigger.
Another star, close to the other two, caught Alex's eye. It was bigger than the first one and a bit smaller than the second one. Alex smilled.
"It is obvious" He murmured, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
Alex watched the three stars a few more minutes and continued to walk around the building. He turned around the corner and saw a figure dressed in black coat standing there, watching him. The figure took a few steps towards him.
"It is a beautiful night, isn't it?" On of the sisters asked, the usual calm smirk on her face.
"What are you doing here?" Alex said narrowing his eyes.
"I wanted to talk to you" She said, titling her head to one side.
"How did you know I was going to be outside? " He asked.
Before the triple could answer, the pieces came together.
"I thought the damn defenses were stronger" Alex muttered
"They are failing after all those years, I managed to discomfort your sleep and pick up a few stuff" The girl said
Alex wasn't comfortable with the way she said it and sure as hell he wasn't okay with a telepath poking around his head.
"First of all, stay the hell out of my mind. Second of all, why do you want to talk to me, you don't even know me... Esme, Sophie... Phoebe" Alex said trying to guess.
"Sophie" The blond girl said " But you know us, don't you. I saw how you were looking at us."
"So you came to ask me how? Is that it" Alex asked
"Not exactly. I found out who you are Alexander and we know who we resemble." Sophie said "You were an X-man once. That gives you some advantages in the Underground-"
"And you want me to use that advantage to convince the Underground to work with you" Alex said, putting emphasis on advantage.
Sophie was a typical Frost, using her words and brains to get things the way she wanted them to be. It was admirable, how resourceful the girls are.
"You are a smart man, aren't you?" Sophie asked rhetorical "You are aware, that the hounding program should be closed right. I mean your niece-"
Boiling anger clouded Alex's eyes. He felt his powers underneath his skin, burning him from the inside, demanding to be realized and destroy everything around him.
"If you don't stop talking right now, I will melt your face off. Got it?" He said thought gritted teeth.
"Smart and hot-headed. Bad combination if you ask me" Sophie said and took another step towards him. "As I said you know what needs to be done. In desperate times, you need allies especially as resourceful as us"
Alex brought himself to take a feel deep breaths and calm down. Sophie was right on all accounts.
"You are losing your time with me. I don't have any influence in the Underground. If they decide against this alliance there is nothing I could do." Alex said
"Believe me, they will trust your opinion as well." Sophie smirked. "After all, they are following the X-men's legacy."
"You mentioned my niece. What do you know about her?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"I am afraid, my resources are shared only with allies" Sophie said putting a head on her hip. "Think of this as a little deal. You help me and I help you."
Alex shook his head in frustration.
"How do I know that you have these recourse that you are talking about?"
"I guess you have to trust me" Sophie said. "It isn't like you haven't trusted a Frost before"
"Yes I have, but I have problem with trusting someone from the Hellfire club, if you get where I am coming from" Alex clenched his jaw.
"Interesting observation" Sophie noted "Another thing I know for sure, is that in the past the X-men have allied themselves with the Brotherhood. You have trusted them, even for a short period of time.I know that you want this as well. You know it is the right thing."
"I haven't been here for your last involvement with the Underground, so I don't know if this is the right thing." He said
"Maybe you should ask. I am sure that Marcos will explain very detailed." Sophie said and smirked again. "Basically we saved everyone. The Underground are sore, because it cost some Sentinel Service agents their lives."
"Aha" Alex nodded. "I will see what I can do" He said turning away.
"Sometimes, you have to make your enemies go away for good. Otherwise they will be coming back." Sophie's voice rang behind him.
"I know" Alex said and continued to walk away, the darkness enveloping him.
Alex went back to his room as quietly as he could and threw the coat on the chair next to the door. He sat on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Sophie was right. From what he saw from the Underground they lacked recourses. The Hellfire club was wealthy and powerful. Lorna was right, the triples would make good allies.
One thing was his top priority now. Rachel. She was out there somewhere, in some facility where they were torturing her, forced her to be something she wasn't. Rachel had already espaced a future, where she was a hound and now it was all repeating. Alex had to help her. She was family after all.
This days's actions and emotions took theirs and soon Alex fell into an uneasy sleep.
The Frosts's steps echoed into the narrow hallway, their heels clicking on the marble floor. They reached the big, write door and opened it.
The woman in front of them was standing on the balcony looking at the other building in the front, her hands clasped behind her back.
"I told you, not to come, if it isn't exceptionally important" She said
"Well, it is important" The triples said in unison.
The woman kept standing still for another second and then entered the room, closing the balcony door behind her.
"Sit" She ordered her calm voice filling the room.
The three sisters sat on the three armchairs, positioned in front of the desk.
The room was spacious and without much furniture, which contributed to the size of the place. There was a desk made of white wood in the upper right side and a bookcase on the left one. A diamond chandelier was hanging from the ceiling a few white veils hanged on it. Behind the sisters was situated a big coach with a white wooden table placed in the front.
Emma Frost, the former white queen and now the newest Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club, sat on her own a chair and faced the triples.
"Go ahead" She said, pouring herself a glass of champagne.
"The Underground have a new member. He had some pretty strong physic defenses, but Esme and I managed to break them enough to gather a little information." Sophie explained. "When we went to seek their help, he recognized us."
"Did you pick a name?" Emma asked taking a sip from her glass.
"Alexander Summers, used to be an X-man" Sophie said
Emma put the glass down and stood up. She took a few steps around the room and turned towards the window.
"So, Alexander isn't dead" Emma said more to herself than to the triples. "Of course he isn't"
The former white queen turned to her daughters once more with a smirk.
"Then we have an advantage." She said
"He has influence in the Underground, because of his prior status as an X-man." The triples said with identical smiled of dominance.
"That means, he has the advantage my dears" Emma said, returning to her chair and taking the glass again. "Our advantage is that we know how to manipulate him, therefore we have his advantages." She explained calmly
"We understand" The triples said in unison.
"Now leave. I need time to think." Emma waved her hand.
The triples stood up and walked out of the room their steps in perfect unison.
Emma smiled at them with a sense of pride. Her girls were everything she wanted them to be. She finished her drink in one sup.
"A new era for mutants is beginning and it tastes good"