Cyclops: Fear No Gods

The Phoenix and the White Queen

Chapter LII - The Black Widow

Her mission was simple.

Observe and report.

It was a job she had done repeatedly until it had become a monotonous task.

The basics were simple.

Mutants were a rising issue in the world with various individuals with unknown motives developing superhuman abilities that could potentially be used to destabilise the world. All it would take was one such individual with vast ambitions and immense power to come along and suddenly the world would be plunged into pure anarchy.

It was why the stance on Mutants was so harsh.

No one knew when such a Mutant would reveal themselves, so all Mutants were treated with a heavy layer of scepticism and scrutiny. Some Mutants used their powers for good, others for petty crime but few had made a huge splash in the world. That was until recently and was precisely the reason she had been dispatched to Bayville.

The attack upon Oscorp had shaken the world as a single suspected Mutant attacked and though not revealed to the public, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been able to uncover that two Anti-Mutant weapons had been defeated. That alone was a statement in of itself and one that Oscorp had rightfully covered up, but S.H.I.E.L.D. knew the truth.

Said Mutant, one named by the public as Atomic Red was then suspected to have been involved in a conflict on a train to Dunfee followed by another conflict in said small town. To finish it off a prison break had seen the release of another young Mutant a matter of days after. In the space of less than two weeks, a single Mutant had caused a large splash that had caught the attention of various individuals around the world, Nick Fury being one of them.

Hence why she was here.

Her job was to find out who Atomic Red was, what his goals were and whether he was a threat.

However, his identity was a mystery.

Yet there were clues for her to follow, little breadcrumbs that she could use to her advantage, three in particular.

Warren Worthington III, Hank McCoy and Robert Drake.

The former was as she suspected, the Avenging Angel as in the time since he had been transferred to Bayville High, the sightings of the winged vigilante in New York had disappeared completely. The news speculated of his death, but Natalia had video evidence of a similarly winged individual being a part of the prison break that had seen the release of Robert Drake. Another young Mutant who after his powers awakening had quickly been imprisoned for his safety from a mob vying for death.

A prison break that had seen the Avenging Angel, Atomic Red and a third Mutant break in and free him, Robert Drake summarily being transferred to Bayville days later.

As for the third Mutant, well Natalia believed that to be the suspected Mutant and former star footballer player of Dunffee, Hank McCoy. His profile matched that of the third Mutant involved in the prison break and he too had moved to Bayville with his parents following the conflict in the small town.

There were far too many coincidences and connections for her to not spot the obvious trail that led directly to Bayville and as she entered the classroom, ignoring the chatter of the students, Natalia spotted one oddity immediately. The identity of Atomic Red was a mystery but it was clear he was connected to the other three and quite possibly a student just like them. It was why she had become a substitute teacher in Bayville, not only as a means to observe the three Mutants but also to discover the fourth.

She had no proof, but her instincts were rarely wrong and as her gaze flickered over the students, Natalia had her sights set upon one in particular. He was good, she could recognise that one, having only momentarily allowed his instincts to reveal themselves with a sharp, analytical gaze that studied her closely before quickly relaxing and turning away. His body tensing in preparation for an attack though eased soon after as he once more returned to being a normal, ordinary student.

To anyone else, the shift would have gone unnoticed in fact, Natalia would argue that most S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wouldn't have noticed it either, a testament to his skill. But she was far from ordinary and had been active in this field of work for far too long to allow such a shift to go unnoticed.

A student had been on edge.

A student had recognised her for what she was.

Beginning the role call, Natalia worked her way down the list of names. "Scott Summers." She called and the hand raised followed by a soft and quiet, "here." She didn't so much as blink or pause, continuing without a single inclination of anything else being on her mind, but Natalia now had a name and her main suspect.

Scott Summers was Atomic Red.

He was the target of her observation and by the way, his gaze was focused on her not with lust and desire like other male students or envy like the females; Natalia knew she was the target of his.

"I fear I may have made a mistake." Charles murmured, Logan grunting as he raised the can to his lips. "I had thought Scott and I were aligned in many ways, certainly with differences. It was impossible not to notice the differences in our visions of the future, but now I fear that I underestimated just how different those visions are."

"He's a wild card." Logan replied bluntly. "I warned you."

Charles nodded his head. "You did and I should have listened." The X-Men were being formed and were rapidly improving under the leadership and tutorship of Scott and Logan, just as Charles had hoped. They were slowly being trained for the future undertaking ahead of them and yet, Charles felt completely out of control. Scott was everything he had expected and hoped for the leader of the X-Men, capable and firm, strong-willed and determined.

Yet he felt like he could not reign in Scott, to prevent him from taking reckless actions and risks that could potentially put all of Mutantkind at risk. Charles had helped form the X-Men but they were not his team instead, they were Scott's and while they might hold similar dreams for coexistence, the difference in which they would work toward achieving said dream could change it completely.

"Is there a way to guide him?" Charles wondered and Logan actually let himself laugh a little.

He shook his head. "Guide him? The kid? Good luck with that." Logan had seen people like Scott before and he will admit, they always put him on edge. "The kid ain't gonna be swayed. He'll listen to what people have to say, but ultimately he's set on doing things his way. Sure if your idea is better he'll use it, but he'll rarely believe that your way will work better. Unfortunately for you bub, you've got yourself a highly strategic leader, one who is highly competent."

He hated to admit it as well.

But Logan could not deny it.

Their sparring sessions were proof of that.

More skilled than the kid he might be, but the fights were never easy and Logan knew he was always one misstep away from losing. If he ever let his guard down for a second, ever let up the pressure then he would be done for and with them recently starting to pull their punches less and less, that was only becoming more apparent. The kid was holding himself back immensely, especially in the use of his powers and Logan would not like to be on the receiving end of the full totality of it.

Though he could safely say it would eventually get to that point if things continued.

The kid felt something for Jean Grey, that much was clear.

A mixture of many emotions ranging from attraction to resentment.

Logan himself could not understand his strange instincts for her let alone Scott's feelings. Nor did he particularly like the fact that he felt this way, she reminded him of Rose O'Hara and that was certainly the only explanation he had for why he was acting the way he was. It was frustrating, to say the least, and that was precisely why Logan was indulging in beer and spending more time out on the town to get away from the mansion.

Despite her resemblance to Rose, Jean was not her.

"I worry what his actions may result in." Charles continued, breaking Logan away from his thoughts. "He has insulted Winston Frost and he possesses dangerous connections and ambitions. Though his mental shields were strong, no doubt a result of keeping his mind secret from his daughter, Emma. I managed to divulge enough information of what he plans and it will put all of us at risk."

"A hit?"

Charles nodded and Logan grunted. "I'll keep an eye out." He didn't want to but Logan wasn't about to let these kids get taken out before they had a chance to properly live, that wasn't him. As begrudging as he was to train them all, he owed Charles a favour and since training them, Logan wasn't about to let it all go to waste.

Plus it would give him something to distract himself from the memories of Rose.

"Thank you." Grunting, Logan got up leaving Charles as he made his way through the mansion toward the garage where his bike was waiting. Throwing on his jacket and sitting on the seat, Logan waited for the garage door to open only to pause when a scent caught his attention, a scent that made his grip on the handles tighten till his knuckles went white.

'Victor!'

Smirking, Victor rested against the tree at the edge of the large Xavier estate.

He knew that James would be able to tell he was here and that was precisely what he wanted. Victor wanted Logan to know he was here, to come looking for him so that they might be able to enjoy a little hunt. He also wanted to mess with his head a little, it was so easy sometimes and Victor always enjoyed doing so.

Turning away, Victor made his way back into the trees and scaled the wall on the edge of the estate, heading back toward the town of Bayville. 'Well, I guess it's time to play a little game with James while I wait for Sinister to make his move.'Flexing his claws sharply, Victor's grin widened as his heartbeat sped up. 'But if he doesn't hurry I'll have to have some fun of my own. I wonder how much the boy has improved?'

So, another chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.