Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:
-
If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You shouldn't be here.
-
The X-Men and any related characters are property of Marvel Comics, trademarked and registered and copyrighted and all that. I'm using them without permission.
For those who read the comics and worry about such things, this story takes place in the (much simpler and easier to follow) Ultimate X-Men universe, and starts right around issue 54. If you don't want to dig out your copy, the team at that time is Jean Grey, Cyclops, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Angel, and Dazzler.
Comments can be sent to "dustyh75@hotmail.com"
Thanks.
The punch was lucky. It wasn't that Seth was stronger than Peter, or any more resistant to Vertigo's strange power. He was on his knees on the sidewalk right next to Peter, feeling it spin, wondering if he was going to miss both Peter and himself when he puked up everything he'd eaten, ever, in his entire life. Her power was washing over both of them when she made her stupid speech about surrendering to her, and Seth realized that she was working with the other two. He realized that she was part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the people who had killed his parents, and rage flared up in him. The rage wouldn't have done him much good with her power keeping them both on their knees, but she was leaning down to jab him with another one of those syringes, and he let her have it.
Vertigo's nose made a satisfying crunch when Seth's fist collided with it, and her green sunglasses cracked right in the middle, the pieces falling on either side of her bleeding nose as she stumbled back, dropping the syringe. There was a flash as Peter armored up in the bright sunlight, starting to rise, but Seth wasn't waiting for backup. The Brotherhood had taken his family away from him, and right now, Vertigo was the Brotherhood.
"I'm not surrendering to shit, you fucking cunt bitch," Seth hissed, wrapping his hands around her neck.
Vertigo let out a choke, her arms flailing, and she lashed out with her power, blindly casting it around her at anyone it would hit. Peter dropped back to the sidewalk, one hand going to his stomach as the other reached out to steady himself, but Seth's own power had already flared up when his bare hands hit her bare neck, powered by his rage, and through the link he was absorbing her immunity to her own ability. As long as Vertigo wasn't crippled by the waves of dizziness and nausea she generated in others, neither was Seth. He wasn't stealing her power, just overwriting his own shattered equilibrium with hers.
"You like to attack people?" Seth yelled, shaking her. The image of his parents' bodies flashed into his mind, and he forced it into hers. "You like to hurt people?"
"Help me!" she shrieked, slapping at his hands.
This wasn't anything like she'd been briefed. Different agents were watching different return points to Professor Xavier's stupid school, but they'd all gotten the same briefing. Take out Colossus as quickly as possible, and don't worry about the target because he was weak, untrained, and not really a threat. Be careful of him, but he wouldn't really be that much of a danger to her, because she could easily overpower him. Right now he was overpowering the life out of her, cutting off her air, and then she felt something else suddenly, a bright hot wash of pain in her arm. Looking down, she saw cuts slashing open her skin, four deep, long cuts laddered down her bicep.
"Let go of me!" she screamed, trying to get her feet under her. She pushed her power as hard as she could, feeling the strain. Why wasn't he falling down? Why didn't it work on him? He should be on his knees like the other one. She stopped worrying as something else slashed open her thigh, laying it open down to the bone, and her leg buckled out from under her. She heard a warm, wet splatter, and knew it was blood hitting the sidewalk. The sudden pain shocked her out of using her power, and she hung helplessly in Seth's hands like a screaming doll.
Peter blinked, looking up to see Seth standing over the woman who called herself Vertigo, his arms locked and his lips pulled back from his teeth as he stared her down, almost snarling at her. He was shaking her, his hands on her neck, and Peter knew he was using his power on her. He had no idea what Vertigo was seeing or feeling, but her screams got louder each time Seth shook her.
"You took my family!" Seth screamed, lashing out. Sabertooth's claws raked down her back, flaying open the muscle.
"Stop," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face. Claws jabbed at her ribs, spearing inside, pain shooting through her midsection.
"You killed them!" Seth yelled, seeing it all in his mind. Everything Sabertooth had done to his family, Seth would do to the Brotherhood. He could see all the damage, all the injuries, and his power inflicted them one after another on Vertigo.
"Seth!" Peter said sharply, trying to get his attention. The woman was defeated. There was no need for this. He didn't even recognize the Seth standing over her, shaking her. It didn't seem possible that this was the same man he'd held so tightly in the shower or spooned against in bed.
"Please," Vertigo protested weakly. Someone grabbed her arm, ripping it out of the socket, pulling it right off of her body. Something bit her leg, sharp teeth sinking into her calf. Blackness clouded her vision. She was dying, and one of Xavier's human loving pacifist students was killing her. It didn't seem possible, but all she could do was plead for mercy. "Please stop."
"Did you?" Seth demanded. A chunk of her hair was ripped out, but she barely felt it now. "Did they? This is how it feels!"
"Please," she whispered, her eyes closing. She felt the claws rake across her neck, unleashing a wet, dark flood, and she knew it was over.
"This is how it feels!" Seth screamed again, and then he felt Peter's cold steel arms wrapping around him.
"Enough!" Peter said, pulling Seth away. The woman dropped to the sidewalk like a sack of flour. Seth struggled against him, kicking and flailing.
"They killed my family!" he screamed. "Let go of me!"
The people in front of the bus station had scattered initially, driven away by the screams, but Peter could see them starting to peek out from behind cars, leaning out through the station doors, holding cell phones to their ears. If no one had called 911 yet, they would be in a moment.
"This will not bring them back," Peter said firmly. Seth stopped kicking.
"Let go of me," he repeated, his voice cold. Peter set him down and dropped his armored form, leaning down to check the woman. Other than the punch in the nose, she appeared unhurt, but her breathing was shallow and she was chalk white, her skin cold and clammy when Peter checked her pulse. Across from him, Peter saw Seth going through her pockets. "What are you doing?"
"She wasn't going to throw me in a taxi," Seth snapped, his face still angry. He pulled a key ring from her jacket pocket and waved it toward the parking spaces, pressing the unlock button. A car near the curb beeped at them, and Seth thrust the keys toward Peter. "Take me to the mansion. I need to see the Professor, right now."
"Seth, what did you do to this woman?" Peter asked. "She is unconscious."
"Throw her in the back," Seth said coldly, starting toward the car. Peter debated for a moment, but then leaned down to scoop her up.
"I do not know if we should transport her," Peter began, standing. "She may wake up in the car and attack us."
Seth spun, eyes flashing, and grabbed the syringe off the sidewalk. Peter gasped, stepping back, but Seth jammed the needle into her shoulder, the same way Toad had done to him, and there was a click as the automatic syringe pumped the drug into her.
"Happy now?" Seth barked. He looked almost feral, eyes wide, and Peter found himself looking away, unable to face the rage and pain and fury burning in Seth's gaze. "Drive me back to the school!"
Peter followed Seth, not bothering to argue. He loaded Vertigo into the back seat, started the car, and pulled away from the bus station just as they started to hear sirens in the distance. In the passenger seat, Seth sat rigid, his hands clenched into fists, staring ahead at nothing. He had to get to the Professor, because the Professor would be able to help him find the rest of the Brotherhood. He would find them, all of them, and then he would destroy them, take everything away from them like they had done to him.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said grimly, glancing toward Peter. "I don't know how to get to the mansion by myself, and I need to see the Professor."
"Seth, whatever you are thinking, it is not the way," Peter began.
"I didn't say I needed a lecture, Peter," Seth snapped. Anger burned inside him like fire, scorching everything. "You don't know how I feel."
"I can imagine," Peter began, and Seth cut him off, his face red.
"I don't have to imagine!" Seth yelled. "You think you know how I feel, but you don't! No one does!"
"You are not the only one to know pain," Peter said quietly, feeling himself start to get upset. He knew that Seth was just lashing out, but it was still hard not to get mad at him.
"Don't fucking lecture me, Peter," Seth repeated, turning away to look out the window. "Just take me to the Professor."
"Fine," Peter said, his hands clenching around the steering wheel.
Seth didn't even wait for Peter to shut the car off as he pulled up in front of the mansion. As soon as the car slowed down, Seth flung his door open and half ran up the front steps, throwing open the front door and charging into the hallway. The Professor, having spotted the strange car on the security cameras, was rolling forward to greet them but jerked his chair to a stop as he saw Seth slicing across the foyer. Out in the driveway, Peter was lifting an apparently unconscious woman from the car.
"What is going on here?" the Professor asked, but Seth wasn't interested in answering.
"The machine in the basement that finds mutants," he began, waving a hand toward the stairs. "Show me how to use it!"
"Who is that woman?" the Professor asked, rolling past Seth to get a better look at Peter. Peter carried Vertigo into the foyer, shrugging.
"She attacked us," Peter answered. Seth spun, his hands clenching into fists again. Did the Professor just ignore him?
"Professor!" Seth barked. The Professor and Peter both turned to look at him. "Show me how to use Cerebro."
"I will do no such thing," the Professor answered crisply. "Until you control yourself and cease this outburst, Mr. Rand, I have no intention of-"
"You show me how to use that machine!" Seth yelled, his face red, his jaw quivering. His whole body was shaking, trembling with anger. "You show me how to find the Brotherhood!"
"Control yourself, Mr. Rand," the Professor repeated. His tone was clipped and severe, but it didn't faze Seth in the least. "I understand you are upset but I will not tolerate this sort of behavior from any of my students."
"You don't understand anything!" Seth yelled. Why wasn't anyone helping him? "You show me how to use that machine!"
"Seth," Peter said softly, setting Vertigo down on a couch. She dropped like a sack of potatoes.
"Enough, Mr. Rand," the Professor snapped, finally raising his voice. "I have no intention of showing you anything in your current state. I do not submit to the tantrums of children."
"I can make you show me," Seth hissed, stepping forward with his hands out. He froze, unable to move as the Professor slowly wheeled toward him.
"This has gone far enough," the Professor sighed, frowning.
Around Seth, the room slowly faded to white, all of the features dissolving and the sound vanishing until he was completely alone, floating in a featureless white void. The Professor, still seated in his wheelchair, appeared in front of him, frowning sternly.
"Where are we?" Seth demanded, trying to move his arms, his legs, anything at all.
"Detention, Mr. Rand," the Professor answered. "Where you will remain for the next few hours, until your regain some control of yourself and your emotions. I understand that you are hurt, and that you have experienced a loss, but I will not tolerate rude outbursts or abusive behavior from any student in this school. This may be a rather lax institution in some regards, but I expect a certain standard of conduct from my students. You would do well to take this time to consider that."
Before Seth could say anything, the Professor faded away, leaving him alone again.
"Let me out of here! I have to find the Brotherhood!" Seth yelled. There was nothing, just the sound of his own voice, and finally he felt himself breaking again, tears slowly trickling down his cheeks. When he spoke again, his voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "I have to make them pay."
In the foyer Peter saw the Professor return to this plane, his body suddenly becoming more alert in his chair. It was obvious that the Professor had chosen to deal with Seth on a mental level, as Seth's motionless, frozen form stood before them like a statue. As Peter watched a slow tear rolled out of Seth's unblinking eye and down his cheek, and Peter whirled toward the Professor, meeting his steely gaze.
"Please carry that woman down to the infirmary," the Professor said, rolling toward the elevator.
"Professor, wait," Peter began, scooping Vertigo up and following the Professor toward the elevator. "About Seth, he is very upset. Please understand-"
"I understand that your time would be better spent explaining what happened to this woman and then writing up a full report of your trip than it would be apologizing on behalf of Mr. Rand," the Professor said, his eyes pinning Peter's like needles. "Unless you would like to join him in psychic detention for the evening?"
"No, sir," Peter said, matching the Professor's clipped tone. He thought, once again, that someday he might enjoy pushing Professor Xavier's wheelchair down the foyer stairs.
Nothing changed the shape or the color or the emptiness of the place where the Professor had sent Seth for detention. When he'd finally stopped yelling, stopped raging at the Professor to let him out, and started to think he had realized that he wasn't really anywhere. Remembering the first conversation he had with Jean inside their minds, walking the grounds of a mental projection of the school, he realized that the Professor had done something similar, and that the detention wasn't a real place at all. That didn't make being there any less frustrating, but it gave him a lot of time to work out some of his feelings, to get his temper under control, and just to think. The Professor must have been monitoring him, because when he was finally calm and rational again the colorless void of the detention space started to fade, and his room slowly came into focus.
He was lying on the bed in his room, still dressed but with his shoes removed, and he saw that the bag he had borrowed from Peter was sitting on top of the dresser. The Professor must have had it curried from their hotel in Savannah. Standing slowly, he found his shoes on the floor and slid his feet into them. He needed more than one pair, but that would have to wait. When he flicked on the lamp by his bed he realized that it was night outside, and hours must have gone by. There was a Post-It note stuck to his desktop, neatly centered, and he leaned over to read it. The firm block printing brought a slight smile to his face as he realized that Peter's handwriting matched his personality.
"Seth, I put you on your bed and took your shoes off so you would be comfortable. I will be in my room when you wake up if you would like to see me. It doesn't matter what time. Peter."
Seth sighed, carefully placing the note in the corner of his desk where it wouldn't be lost. He did want to see Peter, but he wasn't sure where they stood now. He'd been pretty rude to Peter in the car earlier, even though he knew Peter was only trying to help, and he wasn't sure how Peter would take that. The note seemed like a good sign, but there was that whole discussion about taking things slow back at the hotel. Given the way Seth had acted once they got off the bus, the speed of whatever was going on with the two of them might have gone from "slow" to "stop". Before he saw Peter, though, there were other things he needed to take care of, and the first was to find the Professor.
Seth had no idea where the Professor's rooms might be, as Jean hadn't included them on the tour and no one else had mentioned them. For all Seth knew, the man didn't sleep at all, but thinking that didn't do him any good now. He tried the Professor's office, then the kitchen, and then the library, but had no luck until he realized that the Professor must be in the basement rooms. If they had something like holding cells here, and Seth was willing to bet that they did and he just hadn't been shown them on his feel-good "welcome to our happy school" tour, then the Professor would have Vertigo locked up in one of them. Either that, or he'd have her tied to a chair in a dark room with one light over her head as he interrogated the hell out of her, a position Seth wouldn't mind seeing her in.
He didn't find her in a cell or a chair, however. Instead, she was in a bed in the infirmary, and the Professor sat nearby with his eyes closed. He didn't open them when Seth walked in, but he did speak to him in a soft but still formal tone.
"I see that you are up, and much calmer," the Professor said, frowning slightly. "I trust you have taken the time to think?"
"I couldn't really do anything else," Seth answered, walking over to the bed. Vertigo appeared to be sleeping. There were a few scratches on her face where the glasses had broken, and her nose was swollen and red, but other than that she looked fine, just sleeping. "She's not up yet? I don't think that drug lasted more than a couple hours."
"I don't think she's going to be up for a long time," the Professor answered, opening his eyes to look at Seth.
"Are you keeping her unconscious?" Seth asked. "Jean said you gave me a suggestion to sleep the night you guys brought me in."
"I did then, but I have not now," the Professor answered. "I believe this woman is catatonic. Agents of SHIELD will be coming to get her in the morning, to take her away to an appropriate prison, but they might as well just put her in a bed. I can sense nothing from her mind."
"How is that possible?" Seth asked. "Wasn't the drug the same one they gave me?"
"I'm sure it was," the Professor answered. "The damage done to her mind was not caused by the drug. It was caused by you."
The infirmary was quiet for a moment as Seth allowed that to sink in.
"That's not possible," he said finally, leaning over her. "My power wears off. People wake up."
"You did more than knock her unconscious," the Professor said, folding his hands in his lap. "Mr. Rasputin says that he had to physically restrain you, and that she was screaming and pleading for help. What, exactly, were you doing to her?"
"I was mad," Seth sighed, shrugging but not really answering.
"I cannot sense a single thought from her, not consciously," the Professor said. "Deep down, there is something, but this woman has retreated fully inside her own mind. The Brotherhood has been known to leave psychic traps in their agents, something that might backfire against myself or another telepath if we attempted to scan them, but I am sensing none of that here. Whatever you showed her, whatever feelings you poured inside her, they destroyed this woman. It may be years before she speaks or even thinks again. It may not happen ever."
"Good," Seth said, staring coldly down at her.
"Excuse me?" the Professor asked. Seth was staring down at the bed as if he felt nothing, and when the Professor mentally probed, tentatively making a surface scan, Seth's mind was as calm and cold as a frozen lake. As level as the surface was, though, something dangerous churned beneath.
"She deserves it," Seth said, turning to stare at the Professor now. "They all deserve it. I know that your message is all about peaceful coexistence and building bridges, and I'm ok with that for most people, but not for everybody."
"I see you have, indeed, taken time to think," the Professor said appreciatively.
"How did she know where to find us?" Seth asked. He didn't want to talk about himself right now. "Her and the other two?"
"I believe the Brotherhood was searching for you already," the Professor answered. "One of their members, a mutant called Forge, built a machine to find other mutants. Magneto made some use of it a while ago, before he was imprisoned. I had believed the machine to be destroyed, but it is possible that Forge built another. I believe that while you were living in the streets they may have been seeking you out, especially if they knew what your ability was."
"Why would that make a difference?" Seth asked.
"I think we're both looking at the answer to that question," the Professor answered, gesturing toward Vertigo's unconscious, comatose form. "You have a strong gift. I believe that we were both looking for you, and that I just happened to get there first. The effort that they put into drawing you out and trying to capture you, especially knowing that the entire team might be dispatched against them, suggests that they had a very specific need of and plan for you."
"I wouldn't have joined them," Seth said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't join any group that does things like, well, like the kinds of things they do."
The Professor wondered if Seth had given any thought at all to the way that comment sounded in light of his previous statement of satisfaction at Vertigo's condition, but decided not to pursue the matter. Seth would see the contradiction in his own thoughts soon enough.
"That might not have mattered to them," the Professor said. "They would have either recruited you, coerced you, or possibly killed you."
"I guess I'm glad you got there first, then," Seth said, although the Professor was starting to seem more like the lesser of two evils than a benevolent friend. "So you think they were still using this machine?"
"Not after we found you," the Professor answered. "After we located you I believe they backtracked to figure out your identity. They may have been planning to use your parents as hostages to draw you out, but they may also have seen your name on the airline reservations and decided to spring their ambush."
Seth inhaled sharply, clenching his hands into fists, and closed his eyes. He pushed his thoughts away, not wanting to consider his parents or what had happened to them. The Professor noticed, but said nothing. Seth wouldn't be able to run away from that forever, either.
"As for her, security camera footage picked up known Brotherhood agents at the train station and the airport," the Professor explained, not explaining how he had access to such footage. "I would assume that they were watching all of the possible entry points around the school, hoping to capture you on your way back as a last attempt. The bus station must have been Vertigo's assignment."
"Why do they want me so badly?" Seth asked. "I mean, why not just give up after they missed me in Cleveland and then after Sabertooth and Toad?"
"I'm not at all certain," the Professor answered. "I had hoped to obtain answers from Vertigo, but, as I said, her mind has completely shut down. As I said, the Brotherhood appears to have a specific plan for you."
"They're not the only ones, are they?" Seth answered, staring at the Professor again.
"I'm not certain what you mean," the Professor answered evasively.
"What's going to happen to me now?" Seth asked.
"An excellent question, the answer to which is up to you," the Professor answered. Seth said nothing, crossing his arms and waiting for the Professor to continue. He had figured something like this was coming. "There are a few strings I could pull, especially in light of recent events, to have your guardianship transferred to me as planned, if that is what you wish. Do you still wish to remain a student here, Mr. Rand?"
"Yes," Seth answered without hesitating. "But I have conditions."
The Professor raised an eyebrow and waited for Seth to continue.
"If I stay, I'm a full fledged member of the team," Seth said firmly. "I won't cower in this house, and I won't sit on the sidelines. I want a uniform, a codename, and all the training that everyone else has."
"That doesn't seem terribly unreasonable," the Professor said, waiting. "Is that all?"
"No," Seth answered. "I'm not going to ask you to use Cerebro again, and I'm not going to go on some mission to track down the Brotherhood. I know that your program emphasizes peaceful relations and all that, but if we see them, if we run into them again, I'm going to make them pay. I'm saying that now before we have any problems later, so that we both understand each other."
Seth waited, knowing that the Professor could just as easily say no, but Seth didn't think he was going to. When they talked about exploring his power, the Professor looked at him like a piece of candy he'd just unwrapped, and now that they knew the Brotherhood wanted him just as badly, Seth was betting the Professor wouldn't take the chance of letting him go. It would be too much like losing.
"I believe we do," the Professor said, nodding. This wasn't quite what he had intended when he sent Seth and Peter away to Savannah, but the trip had changed Seth nonetheless. It would be a matter of time before they could decide if it was a change for the better. "We will decide how to handle the Brotherhood when that occurs. When you meet them again, you may feel differently. Whether or not you do, your first loyalty is to your teammates, not to your own personal vengeance, and I will not allow you to pursue any course of action that endangers them. As for the rest, I will design an appropriate training schedule for you to begin in the morning. Welcome to the X-Men, Mr. Rand."
To be continued, but not for a while. I'm moving, and all my comics are packed up right now, so it will be a few weeks before I have a chance to write again.