A Winter Fire || Logan Howlett

Chapter 2

Erik and Charles had dropped Laura off at the CIA building, where the others would be. She walked into a room that had four people in it. Hearing someone walk in, the others looked up to see a woman standing at the doorway, Raven being the first to speak up.

"Hi, my name's Raven. Erik and Charles recruited you right?" The blonde girl asked, shaking Laura's hand.

"That's correct, the name's Laura Maximoff" She was then introduced to Hank, Angel, Darwin and Alex. The group sat around the coffee table and go to talking. Not long after, another person showed up, his name was Sean.

"We should think of code names. We're government agents now. We should have secret code names. I want to be called Mystique" Raven said, causing Laura to chuckle and Sean to whine.

"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique" He jokingly complained, making the others laugh.

"Well, tough. I called it" Raven said, just as she shifted into Sean. The group looked at her in surprise and awe.

"And I'm way more mysterious than you" Raven, or Sean grinned, making everyone clap their faces showing looks of awe and amusement.

"Darwin, what about you?" The girl asked.

"Well, uh, Darwin's already a nickname, and you know, sort of fits. Adapt to survival and all. Check this out" Darwin said, as he got up and walked to a fish tank. Laura quirked a brow, as she watched the man dunk his head in the water but soon smiled when she saw a pair of gills appear on his face.

"Very nice" Laura clapped, gaining an appreciative smile from Darwin.

"What about you, red?" Laura said, now looking at Sean.

"I'm going to be called....Banshee" He replied, causing the group to look at him in confusion.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked curiously.

"You might want to cover your ears" Sean warned, as he stood between the two couches. The group covered their ears, and watched as he let out a high pitched scream which then broke the glass window. The others laughed in amazement and surprise. Laura went up to pour herself a drink, and walked back to the group.

"What's your mutation, Laur?" Raven asked, making Laura smile at the nickname.

"Could you hold this? Thanks" She said, while handing her glass to Alex.

"Alright well firstly, i have these bad boys" She said, and showed them her claws and they watched them grow longer.

"And for this one, I'm going to have to go outside" Laura said, as she stepped over the broken glass. Everyone moved closer, and watched in anticipation. Quickly, the woman shifted into a snow leopard and the group cheered and laughed loudly. Laura shifted back to her human form, and grabbed her drink from Alex.

"That was amazing!" Alex grinned, making Laura wink at him.

"What about...Nix? It's Latin for snow, which i think seems fitting" Hank suggested, the others agreeing and Laura nodded in approval.

"Sounds good to me" She answered with a smile, taking a sip of her drink. When she sat back in her seat, the woman noticed that Alex was looking at her strangely.

"What? Have i got something on my face?" She asked, moving to get rid of whatever may be on her face.

"No, no. I just feel like I've seen you somewhere. You said your name is Laura Maximoff right?" He asked, gaining a nod from her in return.

"Are you related to a William Maximoff?" Alex questioned, making Laura stop mid-sip and looked up at the young man with a small smile.

"Nope. I'm actually William Maximoff. You see women weren't allowed to join the military, unless it was to become a nurse. So i had to change my name and look in order to enlist" Looking up from her glass, she noticed the shocked looks on their faces.

"Wait, seriously!? But how, it's said that William Maximoff was born in 1836 which would make him 126 now. Not to mention it's said that he died in 1956. But you look like you're at least twenty-one, and definitely not dead" Alex exclaimed, making Laura chuckle.

"Trust me, darlin. That was me. And i didn't die, i got arrested" She said simply.

"Really? What did you do if you don't mind me asking?" Darwin asked, but before she could answer there was a distant rumbling sound. Laura stood up on alert, and her claws instantly came out.

"What was that?" Darwin asked, then another rumbling sound could be heard.

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right" He said, and looked to Laura who was also looking at him. The two walked towards the window, opening the curtains but they didn't see anything.

The group kept looking around, and listened for anymore sounds. More sounds were heard, and it was making everyone nervous. Until they saw something in the sky, Laura used her heightened sight and saw that it was a man from the CIA and a red devil looking man.

"What the hell" Laura muttered, that is until she watched the red man drop the agent and everyone yelled when he smacked onto the ground. Then there was another person who fell from the sky, gaining more screams. Laura couldn't believe it, it was literally raining men.

Laura suddenly felt a hand grab hers, and she looked to see that it was Raven who was now crying. Quickly, the woman pulled the girls face into her neck and held onto her and to which Raven clenched onto the womans shirt, shaking in fright.

Suddenly, a bunch of CIA men came into view and told them to step back. All of them did as they were told, and Laura grabbed onto Sean while still holding onto Raven. Laura's eyes widened when she saw the red man suddenly appear, causing everyone to yell and point out to him but it was no use. The devil like man kept appearing in front of the agents, quickly killing them.

The Maximoff woman pulled away from Sean and Raven, and went to leave the room but was stopped by the young girl.

"No, wait where are you going?" Raven cried, making Laura's heart drop.

"I have to help them, otherwise they'll all die" She explained as she tried to pull away, but Raven didn't let go of her.

"You can't, it'll be too late. Plus we need you here, you can't leave" Sean pleaded, which made the woman look at him then at the others who also had pleading looks on their faces. Sighing, Laura walked back to them but made sure they all stood behind her and Darwin. Being that they were the oldest, they felt the need to make sure the younger ones were protected.

Behind them, there looked to be a tornado coming towards them but their attention went back to the devil man. Laura honestly didn't know what to do, she really wanted to help but seeing Raven's scared face she just couldn't find it in her to leave.

"Stay here my ass! Let's go!" Darwin yelled, causing the group to follow him down the hall but they were stopped by agents.

"Get back!" One of them yelled.

"We can help" Laura exclaimed, her claws out and ready to fight but the agents kept trying to push them back. Suddenly an explosion went off, and Laura's eyes widened when she saw a big wave of fire head their way.

"Back to the room! Go, go, go" She ordered, pushing the others in front of her. The woman could feel the heat of the fire on her back, and growled when she felt some of her skin get burnt. Getting into the room, Laura grabbed onto the nearest chair and groaned in pain.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked worriedly, seeing the burns on her back.

"It's fine, I'll heal" She waved him off, and watched both the tornado which had gotten bigger and the devil man slice and kill the agents. Laura continued to watch the chaos, feeling hopeless because she can't help them.