Time Stands Still (Peter Maximoff)

Killing Me Softly

"I travel the world and the seven seas, everybody's looking for something." Peter muttered to himself as he smacked the beat out on his knees.

"Peter, take the bloody headphones off! It's time for the briefing," Charles said, bombarding Peter's thoughts.

Peter jumped at the sudden mental interruption. But as he locked eyes with Charles, he cleared his throat and removed the headphones. He could tell the professor was under a lot of pressure.

Charles nodded, and continued, "Okay team, we've been called in to stop a large army of mutants wreaking havoc in D.C.. Apparently they have almost overrun the capitol, and they are killing anyone that gets in their way. I know that we've all been through a lot lately, but we are the countries last hope here."

He said to the crew as he glanced around, "Right. No pressure..."

Scott punched him in the arm, and quickly folded them again. He smirked, thinking that he had gotten the upper hand. He would be wrong.

Peter gave him a sideways glance, and slapped him over the head, though no one saw it. He grinned wildly as Scott looked around at the others, and not one person had noticed. They were wrapped up in their own preparations for battle. Peter folded his arms in victory, and turned his music back on.

As the jet reached the edge of the city, the team glanced out the windshield. The whole landscape was engulfed in flames. This was not what they were expecting, and nothing could have prepared them for what they saw next.

Where's the military? Where were the soldiers fighting for the safety of their country? The answer was soon obvious, they had been obliterated. Coming close to the ground, they could see the dead. It was a proper warzone, bodies scattered all around them.

Peter stepped away from the group, and sat with his head in his hands. He had never seen anything like it. He didn't know if he was going to be able to make it through all of that, but he knew more lives would be lost if he didn't, so he tried to calm himself, rubbing his knees.

Jean came to sit beside him. She whispered into his head, "It's going to be alright. We are going to get through this as a team. Don't be afraid. You've gone through worse, remember?"

Peter sighed. She was right. He was stronger than this.

"Thank you." He replied, dropping his hands to smile at her.

Patting him on the shoulder, she stood, and joined Scott.

As the jet landed, everyone gathered weapons of all sorts, and stood at the ready. Peter picked up a heavy gun, and took a long, angry breath. Cocking a bullet into the chamber, he stood beside Storm. He watched her as she gave him a weak smile, and turned back to where Raven, the team leader, was giving quick directions, telling the others where to go.

The door opened, and immediately the sound of crying and gunfire filled Peter's ears. On the faint breeze was the stench of death. He shook it off, and once again focused on Raven's words. It was going to be a long day's work.

"Everyone needs to be careful. There are very dangerous mutants here, and they are not going to hesitate to kill you. There are a handful of friendly mutants held up nearby, and it is our plan to meet up with them and their leader, Mara. Once we meet up with them, we get to taking back the White House. Does everyone understand their role in this? We take out anyone that opposes us." Raven yelled, hardly waiting for responses as she started out of the jet.

Peter nodded, and followed the team as they ran down the ramp, head first into danger. He looked over his shoulder as the jet took off, Charles and Hank in tow.

He told himself with every step to keep it cool. He wasn't used to this, no matter how long he had been an X-men. He pulled his gun close to his body, and ran, slowly for him, with the rest of the team.

Raven led the team up behind a line of brownstones, and stopped. She glanced at Peter, and said, "Run ahead, and tell us if there's anyone in these houses."

Peter grinned, and got to work. He ran from one building to the next. In the first house, he found two men terrorizing a family and knocked them out easily. He quickly tied them up, tossing them into a dumpster behind the apartment. He was just getting started. He took out five more mutants in a matter of a minute, and was back at Raven's side.

He smirked, and said, "All clear, Boss."

Raven rolled her eyes, and led the team down the vacant road. Soon they came up on a large warehouse. Raven led them in a side door. She looked over her shoulder at Jean. Jean nodded, and closed her eyes.

"Umm, there's a group of mutants on the second floor. They're discussing how to get into the White House undetected. They must be the rest of our alliance." She stated, with her fingers to her temples.

Raven nodded, and led the group over to the stairs. Raven stopped everyone, and continued up the steps. She disappeared from view, but Jean relayed the conversation back to the others. Soon Raven appeared at the top of the stairs, and motioned for everyone to come up.

Peter sped in front of the group, and reached the top of the stairs before anyone else had gotten to the steps. He looked around at ten mutants, one more strange than the next, not all due to their powers. They looked more like a punk rock band than a mutant army. He internally groaned until he was stopped in his tracks by the woman Raven was talking to.

"Umm, who are you?" Peter said without thinking, watching her brush her thick, black curls out of her face.

While he watched her, she looked at him and raised a quizzical brow. He closed his mouth immediately and punched himself internally. He was in trouble now. Gulping, he sat completely still as she made her way over to him. Folding his arms over his gun, he gave her his most dazzling smile.

She stopped at a table and sat before saying, "The name's Mara, and you are?"

Peter wiggled his eyebrows, and introduced himself. "Peter Maximoff, but everyone calls me Quicksilver."

"No one calls him that," Scott said as he passed behind Peter.

Peter punched Scott in a flash, and grinned at Mara, without a word.

She gave Peter a suspicious look when Scott began to rub his arm, and stood. With a tight smile, she rolled her eyes. Moving in so close that they were sharing air, she stared up into his surprised eyes. She needed him to know where he stood.

She muttered, "Quicksilver it is. Now, fall in line, and listen to instructions, or you won't make it through the night."

"Yes, Ma'am," He muttered.

She stepped away, and Peter immediately fell to his knees, grinning at her. He looked at Scott who was still rubbing his arm, and mouthed, "Wow..."