Generation Next (X-Men fanfic)

Twenty Seven

Logan glared at A'Cadia's back as he stepped out of his media room. "Are you going to explain to me where you were this time or do I get to guess?"

A'Cadia did a slow pivot to face her father, plastering what she hoped was a comforting smile on her face as she did. "Just went out for a little drive."

"A drive. Uh-huh, sure. Want to tell me what time it is now?" he asked her sternly.

"Logan, really you're gonna go all fatherly on me? I'm eighteen!"

He folded his arms over his chest in answer and continued to give her the stern-gonna-kick-your-butt-for-being-late father look as if she'd broken curfew. His continued silence was starting to make her shift uncomfortably.

Her mother had always been annoyingly in her face about some things, like her choice to rename herself, but at least she'd given her the freedom to do as she pleased. Then again, look where that had gotten her, she'd ended up part of Lenny's army of idiotic evil. So, maybe Logan's little spurt of overprotectiveness wasn't all that bad. She yanked her phone out of her pocket and glanced down at the display. Her eyes went wide in shock; she hadn't realized exactly how long she'd been snooping around Lenny's place looking for the correct computer system to swipe files from. Dragging her bottom lip through her teeth, she risked a glance up at Logan.

He looked pissed off, more pissed than usual. "Sorry. I didn't realize that it had gotten so late."

He dropped his arms, reached forward, and hauled her into a tight hug. Yeah, okay so maybe his overprotectiveness wasn't so bad, he cared. Her mother wasn't big on showing affection, mostly because it might wrinkle her clothes or god forbid, she smiled and gave herself crow's-feet around her eyes. The only time she'd risk showing affection is if she did it in front of her society friends because she thought doing it might gain her something. Then she was all for a hug or kiss, or some mother-daughter bonding. Gag.

"Hey, I just want you to be safe, kiddo," he told her quietly.

"Awww! This is so wonderfully adorable! It's a moment!" The click of the camera, if not the gushing sentiment, announced Skylar's arrival. Skylar loved her vintage polaroid and took all her happy scrapbook moment images with it.

She pulled away from Logan and lunged for Skylar. "Give me that camera!"

Logan chuckled behind her and watched as Skylar darted off, disappearing before A'Cadia could get a hold of her. "Let her be, I think these moments are what she lives for."

"She's probably gonna make some lame scrapbook for us or something," A'Cadia grumbled. She could picture the thing in her head. The cover enveloped in flowers or some crap. "I'm going to head up to bed."

"All right, night, princess."

She turned back and before she could second-guess herself, hugged him once more. "Thanks."

He cocked his head to the side. "For?"

She shrugged. "Worrying, I guess. Oh, here can you give this to Storm." She handed him the flash drive before rushing off toward the stairs.

Mellissa slipped into the garage, looking around the darkened room to be certain Storm wasn't going to magically melt out of the shadows and bust them. When she was certain it was safe, she motioned Stevie and Angela forward. They moved across the dark garage in silence, until Angela tripped over something and stumbled into Mellissa.

"Sorry, sorry! I don't know what I tripped over!"

"Well, be more careful! We'll never get out of here if you keep making enough noise to wake the entire population of Hades!" Mellissa snapped before turning away.

"What car are we gonna take?" Stevie whispered.

"If we take Storm's again she'll murder us, she keeps grumbling about how much the new paint job cost. As much as I'd love to take A'Cadia's, she'd perforate us with the claws."

"Skylar would kill us if we touched hers too!" Angela put in.

"You better not be thinking of taking Craig's," Stevie told her. "That thing is a death trap. I'm certain of it!" Logan had let Craig keep the pickup truck from their high school job.

Even in the dark, he could see the look of disgust she sent him. "No. Never." She stared at the vehicles in the garage, considering them all. "We'll take Rogue's new car."

"Dude, really? Why?"

"Because she'll never notice it's gone, for one. And for another, it's so tiny we can probably drive it with no problem!" Mellissa answered.

Stevie stared at Rogue's new car skeptically. A'Cadia had helped her get the new car after they "repurposed" the Prius to feed their cooooouch. "I don't know, Mellissa, that thing is awfully small."

"I know it's perfect for us!" She dangled the keys in front of his face with a grin. "I already have the keys, let's go!" She ran toward Rogue's new Smart Car.

"It's only two seats!" Stevie complained.

"You two share a seat! This is awesome. I can reach the pedals! It's like a little golf cart!" Mellissa squealed.

Angela giggled as she pulled the seatbelt around both her and Stevie, and clicked it into place, then she punched the button for the garage door. "Right! Let's move it before someone comes out here!"

Mellissa started the car. "Operation, midnight Slurpee run is so on!" The car lurched as she hit the gas. It took her a minute to get the hang of the little car. Once she figured it out, they moved smoothly down the drive and off the property.

***

Lenny scowled as he entered his office. "Get off my desk, Brittney!"

He resisted the urge to give her a shove off the corner of the desk. He was working on controlling his anger. The anger management classes didn't seem to be helping much, but he'd keep going if only to look for recruits for his army. There seemed to be quite a few mutants in the classes. It had been a brilliant idea to enroll himself in the classes and if he managed to get something out of it, who was he to balk at a little self-improvement. Though he was practically perfect already, he blamed his little fits of temper on the morons around him.

"Fine." She slid, less than gracefully, off the corner of his desk. "You know I was thinking that maybe it's a bad idea to keep trying to bring that Ziva girl here. I think she's just trouble."

Didn't he know it? But he needed her power. She was a high-level mutant and he needed that on his side. Somehow, he needed to control her and keep her from double-crossing him. There had to be a way of keeping her controlled. He wondered if she'd do what he said if he threatened those three stupid little rug rats from the school. He gave his head a shake, probably not. From what he'd seen of her, Ziva was a loner. She didn't care much about anyone but herself. It was one of the reasons he wanted her on his side, she reminded him of himself. He'd been planning this little takeover of the world for a very long time. Recruiting mutants for his army and looking for those to draw over to his side that would be an advantage to his cause. It was too bad that Storm and Logan had caught wind of his search for Ziva and grabbed her before he could send one of his people to recruit her. The school had been a good cover to work from. The rumors of her powers were what had drawn him into the search for her in the first place. Now, he was glad that he hadn't ignored those rumors. She was worth it. If he could get her on his side.

"Lenny, why exactly are we going to Washington?" Brittney's whiny voice cut into his musings, like cat puke between your toes at two a.m., annoying and something you'd rather avoid at all costs.

"I told you, it's all part of my master plan. Now leave the details to me. It's all taken care of."