Chapter 5: Chapter 5- Getting a Job and Getting Owed
POV- Andy
While having destroyed all the digital devices left by the agents may have hindered the calls for backup and raids, I didn't expect it to stop it entirely, so moving as many people as I can out of the shelters was the best I could do. While most of the HQ was helping prepare transport, Marcos vanished, having to perform his role as the cartel's new attack dog. 'I hope I can meet the cartel, it will make collaboration much easier when I join the Inner Circle.'
Talking to some of the mutants my age was relaxing, and learning that the influx of memories had also carried over a skill was certainly interesting, even if it was fairly useless. 'I mean, how useful is playing the guitar when we're being attacked and hunted every day?'
"Aren't you going with them?" Lauren asked, dumping a pile of blankets on the table in front of me.
"No, I've got a feeling that I'll get to do something more interesting. Besides, not every situation needs to be solved with destruction. You'd be able to protect the transport much more effectively than me. Though I wish Clarisse hadn't run off like a git." Finding out that Dreamer had implanted a memory into her head had rightfully freaked her out, and so she left, untrusting of the MU who used her. 'As if any of us weren't being used in some way. Though she found out earlier than in the memories, I wonder what tipped her off?'
"Yeah, transport vehicles are far easier to track, and take more time."
"But they're less temperamental," I add, smiling at her, the comment was far funnier for those of us in the know. "Why're you expecting to be called for something interesting?"
"Because Marcos has been missing all morning, and Lorna is stressing."
"Do you know where he is?" I hear from behind me as my metal chair begins to float off the ground slightly. A warning, and a threat.
"I have a pretty good idea, but if I tell you, you have to promise to bring me with you." Trying to act confident while being floated in the air without any control was near impossible, but I tried anyway, though the momentary flash of a smirk on her pretty, yet angry face suggested otherwise. Seeing a shrug, I explain, "When you got captured, he had to visit the cartel for information on the timing and route of your transport. But we both know that wouldn't be cheap, and we're broke. He's probably working it off, considering the Santa Muerte medallion he was wearing." The anger on her face was radiant, her powers leaking slightly as I felt the chair beneath me creaking a little. "Big with the cartels right?"
"You know all this, yet you still want to come?"
"He helped our family, and while I helped with you, I'm sure I can gain something from this little trip too. You're bringing Dreamer too right? Should be fun."
40 minutes later the three of us pull up at the gate of the Guerra mansion, but unlike the two lovely older mutants with me, I was both armed and wearing a bulletproof vest under my oversized hoodie. "Excuse me," Lorna greets the two guards, her tone suddenly sweet and charming.
"Hey ladies, looking good." Lorna lift one into the air, lifting the rifle of the man, his gun strap lifting him into the air and strangling him, his face purple as the blood is trapped against his skin. The second guard raises his weapon, only to be thrown against a tree, slumping into the ground.
"I'm looking for a Marcos Dias and a Carmen Guerra. Where'd they go?"
"I don't know," he choked out, struggling to breathe, kicking uselessly in the air.
Dreamer simply walked up and breathed some kind of pink smoke into his face, absorbing his memories before taking them back in with a deep breath. "They're at a factory owned by the Russians, I'll give you directions on the way.
Sometime later-
"Are we there yet?"
"If we were there, we wouldn't still be driving." Turning to Dreamer, she raises the question, "How much longer though, we don't know how long they'll be there for, and I don't think I can take the kid's questions much longer."
"Just up ahead, through that gate there." Parking behind the security gate, we can see Marcos beaming the truck, now a blazing ball of fire and smoke. Carmen and the other members of the cartel holding the Russians static in place, as if paralysed in time. With an explosion, Marcos turns back from the truck, walking towards us, though unaware of our presence.
"We could pin them all to the ground and force them into a negotiation, though they may then backstab us, or we could say hi? I'm gonna go say hi."
Dreamer, or Sonya, as I learned in the car, called out to my back, "Kid! Andy get back here. Fuck." Walking onto the airstrip, the guards turn at me, only the fishy-faced one still focused on the Russians, his power obviously requiring constant control.
"Hello, I'm here for Marcos, you know him as Eclipse," I say, interrupting Carmen from kissing Marcos and preventing the worst bit of the fight between Lorna and Marcos. 'I'm something of a love doctor myself.' Waving, I call out, "Hey buddy, nice flames. Lorna's pissed by the way." Watching Marcos try to reason with the rather obviously amused Carmen was hilarious. 'He really can't read a situation, can he? And how does he think I got here?'
"Andy, what are you doing here?" he hissed, pulling me close.
"Lorna's in the car after she found out you'd run to the cartel for help, and I tagged along because it seemed fun." Turning to the beautiful Latina boss I offer my hand, "Andrew Strucker, a pleasure to meet you Ms Guerra."
"Ah, the boy from the school. Rather infamous recently." She looked at me inquisitively, and I could almost sense the power play about to come before she said it. "Aren't you a little young boy, to be a terrorist?"
"Yet I could rip you and your guards into pieces with a wave of my hand, funny how it works." The guards immediately reacted, guns ready and aimed at me, merely waiting for the order.
"Threatening me is a terrible idea boy, even if you kill me, you'll still die." To that I start laughing, my smile gleaming under the sunlight, creating a mildly horrific image for those within sight.
"You'd still be dead." The glare that had settled in her eyes, piercing into me softened, as she called to her men. "Lower the guns, boys." Grazing Marcos' arm, she asks, almost purring, "So where'd you find the boy? I want him."
"You can't have him," the beautiful green-haired Lorna calls from behind me.
"Ahh yes, Magnet Girl. I hoped I'd never have to meet you. And you'll find I always get what I want."
"Not always," Lorna retorts, a smirk revealing her implied reference to Marcos.
"Regardless," I interrupt, sick of the cat-fighting before it even began, "I'm not willing to join you full-time, though perhaps a negotiation could be made for support and resources from your…business."
"You'd work for them?!"/"Absolutely not." Marcos and Lorna shout at the same time.
"We need the resources, and with the influx of mutants from the attacked bases, we will need homes and transport. These can be provided, yes?" I ask, looking across at the cartel boss.
"Potentially, though you'd have to prove yourself useful."
"You wanted to send them a message, right?" Seeing Marcos sigh, looking down at his feet, guilty and ashamed, I roll my eyes. "You had good reason Marcos, stop whinging. Anyway, wouldn't it send a stronger message if I collapsed their entire warehouse? There's no one in there, right?"
"If you can do that for me, I'll at least consider making an arrangement."
"That's all I can ask for I guess. At least without resorting to threats." Walking over to the warehouse I place my hands against its wall, drawing on the same image I used when I ripped the front end off Lorna's transport truck, a strong pull in my stomach as I rip my hands through the air. The screeching of torn and twisted metal pierced the air, as the warehouse roof slammed into the ground, the walls ripping from the floor and crushing everything.
"Wow, this is definitely a message."
"It looks like a tornado went through it. It's a complete wreck.
Turning to smile at the Latina mafioso I ask, "Good enough?" She walked up to me with a sway of her hips that I couldn't miss, 'Damn these hormones.'
"Your first drink and it will be with me. I want you to join me, my family, but I see," she stops looks across at Lorna who was glaring at her something harsh, "that might be difficult, so I will accept the idea of you and Eclipse working together for contract work. I call, you come."
"I don't owe you anything Ms Guerra, You call, we negotiate, I decide. THAT'S how you get me. I'm not tied to you." Though as soon as I said that I could see a glint in her eyes, perhaps thinking up some way to connect me to the Guerra family in some way. 'Crazy bitch. A really hot, rich and hot again, crazy bitch.' "I'll need a phone though, I kind of had to toss mine while being on the run."
After 20 minutes of negotiations, Lorna, Sonya, Marcos and I left, with a cache of guns, a box of medical equipment used for first aid and 3 boxes of food and water, in addition to a phone and a small stack of cash.
"I take it you're not telling your family about this?" Sonya asked, from the driver's seat.
"They can't even recognise that as mutants, the ability to defend ourselves should come before all else, even for children. So no, my incredibly normal, human thinking parents will be kept out of the loop.
"But not your sister?"
"There's something I haven't mentioned to anyone, not even Lauren. Last year, before I awakened my mutation, I was trying to teach her how to skate. You know, do a kick-flip. But she fell, and I caught her. The moment our hands met, a bright glow came from our hands and a warmth I've never felt since hit me. Like I was sitting next to a campfire, while wrapped in a blanket. Neither of our abilities alone has that effect. We're also the great-grandchildren of Andrea and Andreas Von Strucker." At this I hear Lorna gasp, showing more emotion than I've ever seen across her face.
"The terrorists from the 50's," she asked. "They killed hundreds of people."
"We have the same abilities as they did apart, but I haven't told her about their shared power. Not yet anyway. What I mean is I trust Lauren entirely, she is part of me, as I am of her. That sounds weird, and a little Alabamary, but it's the truth."
"If this is true, then the both of you are INCREDIBLY powerful mutants, especially together. Is it safe to be together?"
"As long as we aren't holding hands and thinking about using that power to destroy something, then yes."
Marcos interrupts, "So far this is just a guess though, but you seem so sure, why?"
"Because I've been having dreams for months about a wolf, then find out they were called Fenris. I then get hit with portions of memory that aren't my own, seeing my great grandparents destroy their own apartment building when they were being arrested."
"You're getting inherited memories? I've never heard of that before," Sonya said astounded by the idea.
"So far, I'm the only one with them I think, but it's only so long before it affects her too. From what I saw, the power is addictive. I just figured you guys should know, because if anyone figures out the same thing the way I did, they'll come looking for us."
"You really are a pain in the ass you know that kid," Marcos said leaning over the top of the passenger seat.
Headed home and training was made tough by the increase in refugees, but still, I run laps of the building, then squat jumps, then pull-ups from a metal pole I asked Lorna to stab into the building. This is then followed by mutant ability training, not focusing on power, but control, as I practice a skill based on something I remember reading in a manga comic, which I often read for the art. While he had to specifically light candles with his inherited flame, I tried to do something similar, targeting a single can in a group of three, which wore me out mentally as well. Being watched as I practised was weird, but after hours of doing it, I was able to target one object in a group of ten, meaning I would be able to use my power in more situations, without the risk of harming an ally. Finishing the training with a wave of my hand, each can ripped in half as if John had done it himself.
Coming in close to evening, as I know Cait will call for a family dinner of whatever can be scrounged up, I hear the MU leaders discussing one of the drawings Dreamer drew from the memories she'd gathered from Jace Turner. Listening in as I made myself a post-workout coffee I decide to let this play out like the memories. 'Why change what worked before?' Marco's sighed at something Sonya had said, probably at being reminded that Clarisse had left, "I could try to get us into the back of the building."
"That's reinforced concrete, cutting through that's gonna take at least half an hour."
"Well, then I'll have to do it a lot faster."
I step in, "Or you could take me and I'll get through the wall in under 5 seconds." Reed went to talk but I stopped him with a hand. "You don't get a say in what me and Lauren do, not when we're in a war. I'm happy to sit this out, but if you don't bring me and you can't get in, or take too long and get caught…" I say dragging out the end of the sentence to imagine the rest.
"You're always offering to help us, but we can't provide anything for you," John said somewhat embarrassed if I was reading him right.
"Well then, how about we call it a favour? I might ask for something that I need your help with and I'll cash it in. Sound good?" Seeing no disagreement, I nod and leave, headed to go help hand out supplies to the other refugees as mealtime starts.
POV- Marcos
'This damn kid is driving me nuts. If I end up having a boy, I'm making damn sure he doesn't grow up to be as annoying as Andy.' First, he's a desperate fugitive in need of help, then he helps rescue Lorna, then he makes a deal with the cartel with a confidence that NO kid should have, and now he plans to have us in his debt by helping us do missions that we couldn't really do without him. 'He's manipulative, yet honest, violent and brutal, yet kind and protective, and young with the confidence of an experienced man. Not to mention his ridiculous secret. He's a fucking monster and we need him.
'Two days on the road in the back of a truck. With him. I'm gonna go nuts.'
POV- Reed
I feel like I'm losing him. Andy has been so distant, dismissive even when talking to me. Insulting me and pointing out issues with any idea I seem to come up with. I'm unsure if he simply adapted to the situation quickly, but my chest hurts looking at him as he openly forces them to owe him a debt. He's a good kid, and I love him, but something's changed. I need him to open up, but every time I speak to him, he finds something I said ridiculous or laughable, then ignores me again.
Lauren while similarly distant, made an effort to talk to Cait and I, whether about her training, or something that happened in the HQ, she was talking to us. But even she was keeping as secret. One she'd nearly let slip the other day.
I'd been cleaning out our room and found a book on mutant history sitting on Lauren's nightstand. Trying to find common ground, I had sat and begun reading it, but before I got far into it, she had snatched the book from my hands, torn out two pages, then handed it back, taking the pages with her. All I know is the mutant was from the 50's, based on the chronological ordering of the book Why she'd be anxious about me finding out about some mutant from the 50's I don't know, but now there wasn't any way to find out being without access to the internet.
'I'll try and talk to him tomorrow, maybe he knows what it's about…..Who am I kidding, he definitely knows what her secret is. At least in the back of a truck he can't ignore me.'
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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