The Elgen's Lilith

Chapter 6

"Do you have a kid?" Ostin asked Logan out of curiosity. I was wondering that myself, but also vaguely remembered meeting him a few years ago.

We'd been talking to my uncles for about ten minutes. Everyone seemed comfortable with them, but the one thing I noticed was that they didn't seem very close. If you saw Scott and Logan in public, you probably couldn't even tell they'd been married for a while.

"Yes, his name's Edison," Scott replied. "He's six. He was actually brought in by Xavier, but became really close to us, so...yeah, Ed's known as ours. We're thinking of adopting again soon."

"Oh, I'm sure you're lovely parents," McKenna said with a smile.

Logan grinned at her. "Heh, thanks. Ed seems okay with us, so far...anyway, what's this about your parents, Peter?"

"Oh." I stared at the carpet, my heart thumping a little faster at the mention of them. "They...went missing, along with the rest of the Avengers."

"We've been trying to contact Nick Fury as well, but he hasn't been available," Taylor added. It was true; she'd tried calling him for an hour straight.

Silence was draped over the room like a blanket that was uncomfortably warm. "Logan, could this be related to...Hank and Storm?" Scott asked.

"I don't know," Logan replied gravely. "I hope not."

"We have a pair of eyes inside the Elgen base," Michael told them. "A little girl, Mara. She comes by every few days for weapon training."

*****

Mara had to be more careful; she could sense a tenseness within Hatch. As if he knew something was about to happen.

But she knew for certain that something would happen in just a few days. Tonight she'd meet Peter's friends, who promised to help. Then the plan would be put into action!

"Mara?"

The little girl groaned. She'd managed to stay home again today, and now Hatch was back.

The door to her bedroom squeaked open. Sure enough, it was him.

"How ya doing, eaglet?" He sat down on her bed. Mara raised her temperature again, in case Hatch decided to feel her forehead. "You still have a fever."

Mara moaned to show she didn't feel like talking.

"It was a good day for me today," Hatch continued. "We got some info from a bad person. He talked about a boy named Peter..."

Mara's heart dropped. Pete?

As soon as Hatch left the room, she scrambled to her closet and dug Jewel from the shoebox. It was time to practice some more, something Mara knew that she couldn't do enough before "the final battle." What did that mean, anyway? Michael had told her it would come soon...

Meanwhile, Hatch was getting to be suspicious, and plans for battle had already formed in his mind.

"I know those kids are still out there, Cecilia," he growled at Mara's caretaker as she washed dishes. "I'm going to find them. And when I do..."

"Yes, sir." Miss Cecilia looked down into the sink, not wanting to cross Dr. Hatch. He wasn't known to be kind when he was angry.

"These children are going to die because of their stupidity," he continued. He banged a fist on the counter. "Pity I couldn't save them. I was so close with Taylor, though..."

Cecilia, pretending to be done with her work, put away her soap and told Hatch she wanted to check on Mara. She left the kitchen in silence.

When she arrived at Mara's bedroom, Miss Cecilia didn't bother to knock and opened the door. She was met with a scream of terror.

"Oh, my! Mara, dear, are you all right?" Cecilia shrieked, noticing that the girl wasn't in her bed. Mara instead was sitting by her closet. There was something sharp in her hand.

"Miss 'celia..." Mara Lil sniffed, starting to cry. "Please don't tell Hatch...he's gonna kill Pete and Michael..."

Cecilia froze. It was the first time she'd heard Mara call Hatch anything other than her uncle. "Oh, sweetie," she said quietly.

"He's...he's hurtin' my friends..." the little girl went on tearfully. "Like Hawkeye, and Pete's dads..."

"No, he's not..."

"NO!" Mara's outburst startled the house's caretaker. "No! He's gon' kill them! Hatch is gonna kill my friends!"

Miss Cecilia stroked Mara Lil's loose hair. "Is he really?"

"Yes!"

A glass of water on the nightstand shattered.