Ok, First off, I know nothing of the sexuality of any person mentioned in this story. And I don't know any of them and never will. Secondly, Stan Lee created X-Men and all its characters. Copyright of Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. X-Men Evolution is owned by the WB network. Third, email if you want at: xmanpaul@hotmail.com This story is based off The Ultimate X-Men comic strip. The story, however, will be quite different from the comic book. So read on if you want.
I'd like to thank Dash, Josh, and Larissa for reading over everything multiple times! Thanks guys!
'Indicates someone think to themselves' {Indicates communication over a comlink.}
Chapter 9
The ride back to the mansion was quick and there wasn't much talking going on. Paul spent most of that time trying to figure out why he was so affected by those emotions. He hoped it was something that wasn't going to happen on an ongoing basis. He didn't know if he could deal with that.
"You're sure there's nothing wrong?" Scott said grabbing Paul's hand and spinning him around. He put his hand on his waist and stared into his eye waiting for Paul to answer. "You're all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Paul assured him. "Or at least I will be soon." Scott brightened up when Paul smiled at him.
"Good. You should tell the Professor about what happened with your powers."
"I plan to as soon I have the time. Hopefully he can help figure out how to keep it from happenin' again." They walked through the garage doors and into the main floor of the mansion. "Briefing room?"
"Briefing Room." Scott agreed and both headed to the elevator. A trip down a few meters and a short walk they walked into the briefing they were late for.
"Sorry, we had a little incident." Paul said with a smile. Both Scott and him were still in the clothes they had worn on their date. Paul could feel the nervousness rolling off of Scott. He was a very confident guy when it came to fighting the bad guys or ordering the X-Men around. But throw him in front of some people in a tight pair a' pants and sexy shirt he'd turn into a panicky ball of goo.
"We saw that. Are you two all right?" Xavier asked his voice laced with concern.
"Yes, sir." Scott answered steadily. "There was some kind of traffic accident and Paul was able to save most of those involved."
"Honestly, I don't it was much of an accident. Wait, how did you know? Wait, never mind. You're psychic." Paul said sitting down beside Peter. Scott took up the other seat on his left. The rest of the team was spread out around the table.
"Actually, Bobby saw it on the news. We didn't see it until it was to late render any assistance. You two dealt with the situation well. Good work." Xavier nodded to them and quickly continued. "Now, as you all know we were asked to supply protection for Senator Payne and her family tonight. She has been receiving threats from local activist groups. Both for and against mutants and both made up of either humans or mutants. She is practically the sole support of bill currently making its way to D.C.
"The bill calls for mutant registration, but would give mutants who are citizens of America all the rights afforded any other citizen. She had come under fire from human and mutant groups alike. The human supporters are outraged at the thought of mutants having any rights. And the mutant groups are against the registration portion of the bill. We are in no way showing support or disgust for this bill. We were asked to help protect lives and that's what we are going to do.
"There have been some changes, though. There have been a series of bank robberies taking place in Texas during the last week. I know now that there are mutants involved in these crimes and the law enforcement agencies aren't equip to handle them. Based on their past robberies, I have estimated what I think will be their next target. Scott, Ororo, Paul, and Peter will be going to Texas to try and apprehend these mutants. And then will turn them over to the police there. I have already talked with the authorities in Temple, Texas and they have agreed to help. The town you are visiting is located near Temple and has very small location. These mutants have a tendency to hit smaller banks because of low security. The police from Temple will be called to assist the local law enforcement. You all are team Beta.
"The rest of you will be heading to California and watching over the Senator. Jean, you will be in command of that mission. You guys are Team Alpha. I will be in Washington in talks with the President and Congress concerning the sentinel program until tomorrow evening. Scott, I suspect your team will be able to retrieve the mutants tonight. If you do, return here and keep in contact with Jean. They shouldn't need your help, but if they do they will have it. Jean, your mission will conclude tomorrow afternoon as well. Senator Payne will be going to D.C. then and will not require guarding any longer. Any question?"
"Shouldn't someone accompany you to D.C. just incase something happens?" Scott asked as concerned for the Professor safety.
"Actually, I meeting a friend in D.C. I assure you that I will be quite safe." Xavier as he started to move from the table. "Oh, Hank informed me he was able to completely the new craft design Paul. I think it prudent that you all should take that craft. And you should name it in the process." Professor X smiled at Paul as he made his exit.
Paul headed to the locker room. How Scott had made it in here before him, he had no clue. He quickly changed and followed Scott to the hanger, where they were to meet Ororo and Peter. He said goodbyes to the other team and tried not to run to see the new aircraft.
As they walked into the hanger Paul couldn't help but notice the beautiful craft that stood before him. A craft that he had a little influence in creating. And, well, did program the whole computer system. But that was nothing compared to what Hank did, practical building the thing all by himself.
The craft was completely black and it's large, slender wings swept towards the rear of plane. It had two tail rudders, each placed over the two main engines. The elliptical dome on the front made up the passenger area. The plane was small and could only hold four people comfortably. It had designed to destroy sentinels, though, not ferry people around. Unlike the X-Jet, this craft did have weapons. Lots of weapons. All of which were concealed until they were needed.
"So, whatcha' going to call her, Paul?" Storm asked walking up to meet him.
"Umm... Probably something simply. We'll figure it out later, but in the mean time. I'm drivin'!" Paul said loudly and ran up the ramp of the plane. Peter, Scott and Ororo followed suit.
"Professor, this is Paul. Beginning pre-flight check and startup procedures." Paul had already strapped himself into the seat and was now flipping switches and checking readouts. Scott took the co-pilot's seat to the right of Paul. Peter and Ororo took the two behind. They slipped the small communicators into their ears after the strapped themselves in.
"Fighter prepped and ready to fly. Beta team ready to begin mission. Requesting permission to take off." Paul stated happily. He couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.
"Permission granted. Be careful." Xavier answered kindly.
"Thanks, Professor. Try to have some fun down in D.C." Ororo said to him.
"Close up the barn boys cause we're outta here!" Paul said enthusiastically and hit the throttle to full. The engine's came to life with a radiant blue and the small craft shot forward through the underground exit. When the hit open sky Paul pulled the yoke down and the craft went into a quick accent for space.
"Everybody hold on! This is gonna be awesome!" Paul said as he pulled the plane into a tight dive and then rolled to the left. He flattened out into a dive then leveled the plane off at 30,000 feet.
"Auto-pilot engaged." Paul said looking over to Scott.
"Thank god." Peter said from his seat. His knuckles were turning white from his grip on the handles of the seat.
"What? You didn't like the test flight?" Paul turned in his seat and smiled wryly.
"Not particularly, no." He answered.
"Bringin' weapons online. Surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles both show as operational." Paul said flipping a few more switches on an overhead panel.
"Main gun operational. Secondary systems show as green." Scott reported out quickly after Paul.
"Good. Shutting down weapons systems. Prepare from main drive testing." Paul said to follow protocol.
"This isn't going to be fun, is it?" Peter sounded concerned.
"Oh, its gonna be loads. Just hold on. We're about to go really fast." Paul smiled at him.
"Main drive online." Scott informed.
"Here we go." Paul said as he initiated the main engine with a loud boom. "Mach 2, Mach 3, Mach 4, and leveling out at mach 6." Paul said delighted.
"That's wasn't so bad." Peter said brightly.
"Inertial dampeners. They essential fight gravity. More used for maneuvers in space. Quite nice in a dog-fight." Paul stated quickly. "Well, not that I've been in a dog-fight." Paul admitted.
"Are we there yet?" Ororo asked managing a perfectly to sound like a bored five year old.
"E.T.A. is ten minutes." Scott said. "You seem to be having fun." He said to Paul.
"Oh, yeah. I spent all that time in that simulator for somethin', didn't I?" Paul smiled to him. The rest of the flight was spent checking and rechecking the rest of the systems aboard. Scott walked them through what would happen once they found the mutants there were looking for. The United States military had recent advancements in small arms technology and had produced a weapon that could easily stun a person. The weapon shot an energy that could incapacitate someone for almost an hour. The weapons had been issued to most of the law enforcement agencies in the last month. They were to capture the mutants and turn them over to the police. Who would then probably use the new weapon on them and transport them to a secure location.
"Cloakin' net engaged and hatch sealed. We ready to head out, Mein Führer." Paul said smartly to Scott and smiled. "I've notified the police and they know we're here."
"Let's go. The bank's that way." Scott said ignoring Paul's hyperness with a shake of his head. Ororo smirked at Paul and took up position behind Scott. Peter walked after her quickly. Paul took up place beside Peter.
"Small town." Ororo was unimpressed.
"Yeah, the Professor said it should be one of the last ones on their list." Scott asked.
"How far?" Peter inquired.
"Not far. Bout five minutes." Scott had the information, just liked a team leader should.
"So Petie, you know that guy Jeff on our soccer team?" Paul asked politely, hoping to take the break in conversation to give Pete a `heads up'.
"Yes, I remember him. He's kind of, how would you say...clingy." Peter answered.
"Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to tell ya." Paul let out a sigh. "I feel so like a fifth grader do this, but he asked me to ask you out for him." Peter looked at Paul with growing eyes, which meant he was in shock. Even that small show of emotion was something major for Peter. "Yeah, I tried to tell him you were straight, but he said he had a feelin' about you." Paul said using the little quotey sign on the word "feelin'".
"He expects an answer at our next practice. Sorry." Paul said patting Peter on the shoulder and swiftly moving to walk beside Ororo. She was trying her best not laugh out loud.
"What?" Peter asked a little stunned and a lot surprised.
"Jeff, the guy that plays center forward on our soccer team asked me to ask you out. Apparently, he didn't understand the fact that I told him you were straight. And he, I guess, is to shy to ask you himself." Paul went slowly so Peter got in all. "I tired to tell him you didn't swing our way, but he wouldn't listen. I'm sorry, but I did try."
"It is all right." Peter said back. "I will try and let him down gently." Peter said his face stoically flat the whole time and the Russian accent only adding to the whole effect. Ororo just kept stifling a full out laugh that threaten to come out. And Scott just kept on walking, not seeming to pay much attention to the whole conversation.
"You know!" Ororo said hitting Paul lightly on arms with the back of her palm. "This is so unfair. All of you guys have someone to be with or at least the option to be with. And I can't get anyone to pay me any attention. Its getting really annoyin'."
"There's this other guy on our team that's really nice. Maybe I could set you two up." Paul stated happily.
"Who?" Peter and Ororo questioned at the same time.
"Trevor."
"Trevor?" Peter looked confused.
"Ohh, Trevor's a sexy name." Ororo looked excited.
"Yeah, Trevor. What you don't approve Pete?" Paul asked.
"No, it is not that. I just thought Trevor was gay."
"No, Jeff's gay. Trevor's not. At least don't think he is. He girl-friend came to our first game last week. Bad gaydar, Pete!"
"Obviously!" Ororo added quickly and then succumb to the urge to laugh she had felt before.
"Shhh!" Scott said quickly. "We're coming up on the bank. There." Scott pointed to one of the only two story buildings the area. They stopped at the side of a building and tried to stay in the shadows.
"Paul, what ya got?" Scott asked.
Paul relaxed his body and mind letting himself take in the emotion around him. Pushing his mind towards the bank he felt maybe ten people on the first floor and a definite two of the second. Some of the people on the first were experience fear and panic.
"I think our guys are already on the inside." Paul as felt confidence flowing from someone inside, and anxiety as well.
"Ok, let's move. Depending on what these guys can do will determine how we react. So stay sharp." Scott ordered out briskly as they headed for the bank. Paul took up position between Scott and Ororo where could best provide cover for all of them. Peter stood behind Paul and waited for when he was needed.
They entered the bank and immediately saw three of the four mutants they were after. They carried no weapons, but definitely weren't playing nice with the bank employees. Mutant number one was a guy was a little smaller than Peter and he hefted a bag over his shoulder. Presumably the money they were stealing. He stood near the entrance to the vault and the fire red hair and goatee went well with the evil expression he carried on his face.
Another small, feeble looking girl was mutant number two. But Paul knew not to discount on size. She stood above a man lying on the ground unconscious; Paul could still see the man breathing. He hoped she hadn't hurt him to bad. Something told Paul she was dangerous, maybe more so then the other. Still, her brown hair and the pinkish color to her skin made her look harmless.
And mutant number three was a woman that didn't look very happy at all. Her skin was dark, darker even than her hair. Paul could feel anger rolling off her as she raised her hand to hit the man she had by the collar.
"Put that the man down!" Scott yelled as the four X-men neared the scene.
"An' who the hell are you?" The dark skinned woman asked. She angrily threw the man to floor and took a step towards Scott.
"If you come with peacefully no one will have to be hurt." Scott said, authority plain in his voice.
"I suppose you think that you can make us, huh?" Mutant number one asked.
"Only if we have to." Scott replied.
"We will not go with you willing." The small girl said with mock gentleness. "And I do not think you have the ability to take us by force."
A file cabinet near the back walk leapt from the ground and flew towards the X-Men. Paul swiftly extended his hand and stopped the cabinet in the air. One of the mutants was a telekinetic, but Paul saw no visible signs that one of the three here threw that cabinet. It had to be the other.
"I'm gonna ask you again. Who are you?" Mutant number three yelled, her temper flaring.
"They're the X-Men. Don't you recognize them from the news?" A man walked out of the vault and five large bags of money floated after him in the air. His brown hair was spiked up and he looked to be in his late twenties to Paul. Paul could sense an air of superiority to him. He walked out to stand beside mutant number one then sat the bags down behind him. The others didn't move and seemed to be ready for anything.
"They must be getting desperate to send these losers after us huh, Mattox?" The big one said.
"Do you think we can take them, Brent?" Mattox said to mutant number one.
"Most definitely." Brent answered.
"Get ready girls." Mattox informed his other teammates.
"Channel your anger Eva. Do not let it control you." Mutant number two said to her friend.
"I'll try, Sara, but people like this tend to really pissing me off." Eva answered stepping over another person to stand beside her leader. Sara began to move as well, but as sure as she did one of the bank worker made a run for it. Sara gently reached out a hand and tapped the fleeing woman's bare arm. The woman crumpled to the floor in a heap. Paul jerked forward as if you help the fallen woman. "Don't worry she's not dead, only paralyzed."
"But if I did it again she would die very quickly." Sara said kneeling down beside the woman. Her pale fingers slipped out of the extra long sleeves she wore and tapped the woman a second time. The woman's body started to convulsion and the abruptly stopped. "Oops." Sara held no expression to her face, only a coldness Paul had only seen in his brother's.
Paul was quickly filled with anger over what that mutant had done. Taking a life for no good reason other than it gave her satisfaction. That sickened Paul and he knew she must pay for her wrongs.
Paul still held the file cabinet in place, floating in mid-air. He slung it at her with as much speed as he could muster. She nimbly flipped into the air and over the cabinet, however, and landed softly on the ground next to her teammates. They waited for Mattox to say the word and they would attack.
"Time to go platinum, Petie." Paul said reluctantly and Peter quickly complied.
"Stay clear of white girl there." Scott ordered. The X-Men smoothly moved apart and took up ready positions. Paul stood between Scott and Peter with Ororo on the other side of Peter.
Several desks, office chairs, and other furniture lifting off the ground signified the beginning of the battle. Matthox sent all those object flying directly at Paul.
Paul stepped forward and pushed back at the furniture and sent most of it shattering against the walls without much effort. He threw more energy into the last two that remained and stopped them in the air. Shifting the two large desks Paul hurled them back Matthox.
Much the same as Paul Mattox slammed the desks into wall and changed his focus to Storm. Paul could hear the invisible force that smashed into Storm and sent her flying towards the back wall.
Paul caught his teammate before she hit that wall. Paul narrowly ducked under the fist headed right for his face and felt the air wiz by his ear as he dodged the next. Brent had taken advantage of Paul's distraction and closed in. Out of no where, Paul saw a sliver flash and Colossus had gotten two solid punches off. Brent hit the ground heavily from the force of Peter's attack.
Sara was agile enough to evade all of the blast that Cyclops was sending her way. She gradually worked her way towards him trying to get with in touching range. Scott diverted a moment and took aim at Eva. One quick shot to the chest propelled her into the open vault. He jumped away from Sara and rolled. He came up only a few feet from her and took another shot.
Storm recovered from her little trip quickly after Paul set her down. She closed the distance between herself and Mattox. With glowing eyes started throwing lightning bolt after lightning bolt at him. He was effectively blocking them but Storm was no where near tired yet. By focusing a funnel of wind she threw Mattox into the air. However, he caught himself and sent Storm flying again.
Paul caught Sara just as she was about to pounce on Scott. He picked her up into the air pitched her in the direction of the front door and away from the rest of the fight. Looking up, he saw chandeliers hanging from chains in the tall two story ceilings. He easily jerked a chandelier from its place and then yanked the long chain from it. He held Sara in the air and wrapped the chain around multiple times, making sure to contain her feet and arms. With her effectively detained, he turned his attention back to the others.
Eva walked out of the vault to almost be hit by a flying Colossus. She took a leaping roll and came out in run headed for Storm. Storm stood from where Mattox had thrown her and didn't see Eva coming up from behind. She felt a searing heat on her left wrist. She wrenched her wrist away and turned around at the same time. Eva reached for Storm again her hands glowing red. Ororo stepped away, but was again picked up off the ground and thrown by Mattox. She landed in the bank vault with loud thud.
Scott started to fire on Mattox without much effect. Mattox was easily blocking his shots and Scott had to keep dodging the things Mattox throwing at him. A continued blast from him could probably take down him down, but he couldn't get an opening to take one.
Brent leaped at Paul again with speed and acrobatic ability that almost rivaled Beast's. Out of the corner of his eye Paul saw Storm being thrown into the vault. He extended his mind and found another mass of emotion in the vault as well. It had to be Peter since everyone else was accounted for. Paul lifted himself into the air and took Brent with him. "Cyclops!" He yelled to get Scott's attention and threw Brent at Scott as hard as he could. He hoped Scott would get the message and he did. The red beam nailed Brent square in the chest and sent him flying through a vaulted window, glass shattering everywhere.
Paul was knocked from the air and back to the ground. He landed behind some desks that blocked his view to the rest of the bank. He assumed it had been Mattox that took him down because hadn't seen what had hit him. Whatever it was it hurt like hell. He hadn't realized that his abilities could cause some much pain. Paul rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up.
When he stood he saw Scott being thrown into the vault as well and a still pissed off Eva headed his away. The vault door closed and Paul could hear the locking mechanism engaging. "Why don't you join your friend." Paul stated and threw his arm out wildly to his left and sent her soaring through the already broken window.
He headed towards Mattox and sent out a telekinetic wave. It hit Matthox with enough force to knock him back several feet and cause a muffled thud to occur when he hit the ground. Paul picked Mattox up off the ground before he could react and sent him face first into a wall. He held him there continuing to supply pressure with his abilities.
Mattox managed to turn himself around using his own abilities to counteract Paul's. He sent out his own wave of mental energy that slammed into Paul that threw him backwards. Mattox dropped to the floor and started towards Paul. Paul didn't waste anytime throwing another telekinetic surge at Matthox who went crashing into the wall at his left.
Paul began to stand, but before he got to far up he went flying into one of the desks still in its original place. His back hit the edge of the desk and he let out a short cry of pain. As his eyes came back into focus he saw Mattox headed towards him again. If Mattox wanted to trade punches, per say, then that Paul would do. He pushed out with everything he had against Mattox.
Before Mattox could hit the wall behind him Paul stopped him in the air. With a jerk of his head to the right Mattox broken another of the huge windows on his way through it.
"Storm? Colossus? Are you two all right?" Scott asked as he sat up.
"What? Where the hell are we? Why is it so dark in here?" Storm asked. "Where are you Scott?"
"I'm right here and we're inside the vault. That Mattox guy threw us here and shut the vault. Paul's still outside, I assume fighting him."
"Oh god! I've got to get out of here!" Scott could hear the panic in Storm's voice.
"What's wrong?" Cyclops asked as he neared her voice.
"I've got to get out of here! Now!" She said as she scrambled to stand. "Where's the door? I'll blow it off!"
"Storm, no!" Scott yelled. "This whole thing is metal. You'll fry Peter and me. Colossus, are you all right?" He got no answer. "I'll get it Storm, just hold on." Scott took aim where he thought the door should be and hit the trigger in his palm.
Paul saw the vault door turn a faint red and then explode. He put up shield to keep himself safe from any debris from the now mauled door. Storm ran from inside and took a huge breath of air. Scott walked out dragging Peter with him.
Right about that time, Brent jumped to the window seal and down to the bank floor. Storm didn't waste any time. A breeze began to blow and Storm lifted into the air and flung a lightning bolt at him. He cried in a pain as the bolt hit him and he fell to the carpeted floor.
Paul looked around for Mattox, but he was gone. He closed his eyes and focused with all his will to sense a fleeing person, but he couldn't. The mutant was gone for now and Paul could hear approaching sirens.
"What happened to Pete?" Paul asked walked over and wrapped Peter's other arm around his shoulder taking some of his weight from Scott. Paul applied light pressure to wound on the back of Peter's head to help stop the bleeding telekinetically.
"I don't know. The back of his head is bleeding, but he's still breathing and his heart rate is regular. We need to get him back." Scott answered. "Where's Mattox?"
"Gone, I guess. I threw out the window right before you blow the shit out of the vault door. Storm, will you check and see if the other girl is still outside? She should be right outside the window." She nodded to Paul and walked to window before lifting off the ground.
"Yeah, she's still there. The cops are here too. Hope they're still on our side." She said skeptically as she sat down beside the others. A tall, gray haired man dressed in a suit entered and with pistol drawn entered the bank seconds later. He was flanked by a number of uniformed police, who all had their weapons drawn as well.
"You sure did a number on the bank. You plan on paying for this?" He asked seriously.
"The money is all here. Two of the perpetrators are right here and another is outside. The fourth is gone. We don't know where he's gone too, though." Scott said ignoring the man's comment and starting towards the door with Peter. Paul kept up.
"So? You trashed our bank in an effort to catch mutants, like yourself, that were robbing us, and you didn't even catch them? Wow, y'all really are the experts." The detective responded.
"Hey! We are nothing like those people, and we did get three of them in about twenty minutes. Which is better than what y'all did in a week. Oh, and be careful. Don't touch the tiny one." Paul said pointing to Sara who was still chained up.
"That's won't be a problem. The government people gave us these nifty little suppression collars. That should take care of that problem." He said confidently holding a small device that looked a large horse-shoe.
"Suppression collars?" Paul asked.
"Yeah, they block the powers of mutants. Should make the transport easier." The man said looking at the device fondly.
"Well, their all yours." Scott said to him. As they walked from the bank they continually received looks of contempt and revulsion from the police and people outside.
As they approached the jet, Paul keyed in the code of the cloaking device into a com set on his wrist and opened the plane. They climbed aboard and Scott started up the plane while Paul cleaned and bandaged Peter's wound the best he could. He also gave him a pain-killer/sedative. Once he was sure that Peter was securely strapped in his seat Paul headed for the pilot's chair.
"Well, that was entertaining." Ororo said sarcastically as she strapped herself in.
"Bout as entertainin' as a root canal." Paul responded as he set the flight controls to the correct coordinates. "We just saved their city and bank thousands of dollars, and they can't even manage a thank you?" Paul blurted out.
"Well, it's not our problem anymore." Scott said as Paul lifted the small jet into the air.
"How can you say that?" Paul looked at Scott with a little astonishment. "It's always gonna be our problem." When Scott didn't answer immediately Paul continued. "There are always gonna be people who hate us because we're mutants!"
"You're right. There are, but we can't change that, so it's not our problem." Scott explained easily. "Is Peter going to be all right?" Scott asked hoping to change the subject.
"Yeah, he'll be fine as long as we can get him back soon. I gave him a pain-killer and a sedative. I can use the scanning equipment at the mansion to make sure there aren't any other injuries, Jeannie showed me how to use them." Paul answered and decided that a different subject was totally fine by him since he didn't really feel like being pissed off at Scott right now. After a few moments he thought of something to change the subject too. "Did you happen to talked to the Professor about rentin' a house in the mountains?"
"Um, yeah. I actually did. He said that it would probably be fine because it doesn't look like much is going on right now. He said it would depend a lot on how his meetings in Washington go." Scott answered as Paul leveled out the plane and set the auto-pilot.
"What are y'all talking about?" Ororo asked from her seat.
"I thought it would be cool if we could get a house in the Catskills for Christmas. So we could go skyiin' and stuff like that. Hey, we could get one of those really huge fur trees too." Paul said with a gleam in his eye. "What do you think about that?"
"Sounds great to me. I haven't had many white Christmases myself, so that would be cool." She answered.
"Well, the Prof gets back tomorrow and so does the rest of the team so we can work out the details then." Paul said, turning slightly in his seat to look at Ororo. "I can't wait. This is gonna be awesome."
The rest of the flight back to the mansion was filled with Paul and Ororo talking about what they were going to do while on their little mountain get-away. Of course Peter didn't have much to say at all and Scott kept his comments to a limit. Paul was happy to fill any silences on their trip home.
"Your head feelin better this mornin' Petie?" Paul asked as Peter walked through the library. Paul decided to make good use of the Professor's absence and lay around as much as possible. Which, right now, meant reading a book in one of the huge chairs in the library that could fit three of people in it. Charlie was lying at his feet, asleep.
"Yes, much. Thank you for assistance with my injuries." Peter answered as he paused in front of the door that lead into the main hall.
"Well, I'm no Jean Grey, but I manage." Paul said with a smile. "You're not gonna like beat the shit out of Jeff are you?"
"Jeff?"
"For our soccer team, over the whole him liking you thing?"
"Oh, no. I have no intention of hurting him in anyway. I'm a little surprised that you would think that of me, Paul."
"Well, I didn't actaully think that you would, its just real sensitive subject with most people. I wanted to be sure. Sorry."
"It is all right. I am going to the gym to workout for a while." Peter walked out of the as Scott walked in through the other door of the library. He smiled at Paul and kept walking towards the front of the house. He just smiled at Paul as he headed throught the library. Paul hmmphed and leaned forward to grab Scott. He latched onto the back of his belt and pulled Scott down in his lap.
"What? I don't even get a hi?" Paul said with mock indignantly.
"I don't kiss people that steal my sweatshirts." He answered smugly as he plucked at the light gray Nebraska University sweatshirt to make a point.
"Hey, it's not my fault you smell really good. And you said that I could wear your sweatshirt!" Paul stated trying to defend himself.
"Yeah, I said that about that black one I have, but not the other three that have gone missing. And me smelling good is not an excuse." Scott said trying to free himself from the Paul's grasp, but Paul wasn't letting go.
"What can I say? I'm addicted." Paul starting kissing the back of Scott's neck and felt a shiver run through Scott's body. Then Scott tried to get away again.
"Come on, let me up."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Please?"
"Not gonna happen." Paul only snuggled Scott closer.
"What if I told that Professor Xavier is back and I'm supposed to meet him outside?" Scott was let go almost immediately and he stood. He stuck out his hand and helped Paul up as well.
"He said that he has some company with him and that he wasn't sure if he wanted them to see all of the stuff in the lower levels. So, I'm supposed to meet him outside." Scott explained the situation as he pulled Paul towards the front door by the hand.
"My lord, its cold out here." Paul wrapped his arm around Scott's waist and tucked himself under his shoulder to fight the cold. He didn't know if felt Scott tense physically or telempathically, but he felt some tension there. He assumed it was because they were about meet people that they didn't know, and Scott's whole PDA thing was coming into affect. It was all right, no big problem. He let go and they continued to walk towards the Professor black Jaguar.
"So, whose the Professor got with him?" Paul asked as he tucked his hand under his biceps.
"I don't know. Some businessman from New York that he was meeting with in D.C. I do know he's a mutant." Scott answered.
"Hmmm." The car had come to a stop and Scott was getting Xavier's wheel chair from the back while Paul went to open the door. Just he began to pull the door open and lean down to greet the Prof a blond-haired head about knocked him in the face. He jerked up and took a step back so quickly he almost fell into the snow.
The man that the head belonged to stepped from the car swiftly and grabbed Paul arm, keeping him from falling. When Paul regained his balance he looked at who had caught. To his surprise, he found an incredibly handsome blond-headed man. He wore a gray business suit and black trench coat as well.
"Sorry about that. Didn't expect anyone to be standing there." The man apologized and didn't move the hand he'd used from Paul's shoulder.
"No problem." Paul said to him and took a step back from the man and shrugged his hand his off. He smiled and extended his hand to man. "Hey, I'm Paul Andrews."
"Warren Worthington III. Nice to meet you." He nodded and shook Paul's hand. Scott had gotten Xavier's wheelchair out and was pushing it to the open door.
"Um, Scott Summers. Scott, Warren Worthington III." Paul said quickly as the two shook hands as well.
"Excuse me. Would the three of you mind terribly if I got out of the car?" Professor X asked.
"Sorry, Professor." Scott said stepping up to the car to help Xavier out. Scott step him in the chair.
"Hey Professor." Paul said with a smile.
"Good morning, Paul. Shall we go inside? Unlike the three of you, I don't have the hair to keep my head warm." Charles said with a chuckle. "How did you mission go last night? Were you able to apprehend the mutants?"
"We did stop them and three of them were taken in to custody by the officials, but their leader was able to get away." Scott told him.
"His name was Mattox and he was a pretty powerful telekinetic. I made the mistake of tossing him out a window and not going after him right away. Peter suffered a small injury last night, but he is fine now." Paul once again opened the door for them all.
"So, he going to be fine?" When he received a nodd from Paul he continued. "Three out of four isn't bad and I know of this Mattox person. I've never been able to get a strong trace on him with Cerebro, though. I think has something to do with one of the new anti-human groups forming on the west coast." Xavier said as he hung his scarf on a hook by the door. " I will want a full report as sure as we have the time. I will also have to check into this Mattox character more now that I know he's become active."
Xavier rolled forwarded and towards his office with the three other men following. "Where are Peter and Ororo?" Professor X questioned.
"Pete went down to the gym a few mintues ago and I think Ororo stills asleep. And she will probably stay asleep until I go and drag her out of bed." Paul answered with a smile.
"Mr. Worthington has come to discuss the sentinel situation and the recent events happening in D.C. I think he may be able to offer some assistance to us." Xavier explained as he stopped himself behind his desk. He montioned for Warren to take a sit.
"Sir? Exactly what is the situation in Washington?" Paul asked from where he stood beside Scott near the door.
"The United States government has decided that mutants present a much larger problem that they originally thought. Therefore, they decided to step up the sentinel program. Before, the sentinel program only consisted of somewhere around one hundred sentinels at its maximum and only covered the major cities of the counrtry. Or any large events that involve mutants, like the one in your hometown, Paul.
"The government is upgrading the program. They are building quite a few more sentinels and plan to cover the whole US around the clock. They also have plans to eventually involve Europe, Aisa, Africa, and the rest of the world to monitor and control mutant activity." Xavier said calmly.
"When is the new plan going in effect?" Scott asked.
"About a month from now. Charles was able to found out that when the program does go into effect that the X-Men will be one of their first targets. I'm here to hopefully help find a way to stop that." Warren said.
"What are we lookin at here?" Paul was a little more than concerned about what he was hearing. And a little more than pissed off.
"Well, if President Kelly has anything to do with it will be a full flegded war against all mutants. I am not very happy to say that there doesn't look like there is much we can do to stop it. We just need to prepare for the worse. A month from now, things may start to get very ugly." Xavier said regretfully.
"The law enforcement people had a new toy to play with and they told us they got them from the government. He called it a suppression collar. Said that rendered any mutant wearing it powerless. It seems their already stepping up the program a little." Paul told them.
"We found out about those collars yesterday as well." Professor X stated.
"How exactly did you find out all this informa..." Paul cut short when the Professor smile at. Then realization struck. "That works." He said with a smile.
"They weren't giving me much of a choice so I did what I had too." Xavier looked down at his hand for a second then continued. "I have much respect for the following the set up chain of command in this country's government. However, when that endangers the ones I care about I become not as accomidating."
Please email me an tell me what's on you mind, even if it does have to do with my story. xmanpaul@hotmail.com