Chapter 4- Good Deed for the Day

POV- Andy

"So how long until the truck shows up?"

Lauren glared at me for a second, "Like 4 minutes or so stop asking."

"What's got you so shitty on such a beautiful Sunday morning sis?"

"It's Sunday?"

"Think so, what about it?"

"Today was the football team's fundraiser breakfast. I was meant to make corn muffins."

Scoffing at her, the glare in her eye returned, "You suck at baking, and who the hell likes corn muffins? Especially for breakfast?"

She chuckles as she responds, "Yeah that never made much sense to me either, pancakes, waffles, scones maybe, but muffins were definitely an odd choice."

Hearing the convoy I get up, calling my sister over. "Just like we practised, just direct my energy at the front end of the vehicle, that way at worst you'd hit the driver and guard right?"

Smiling lightly, she nods her head yes, and lifts her arms ready to begin. I'll need a strong emotion to summon this amount of energy, the convoy over 100 metres from our position. 'Don't blame me I didn't pick it.' The image of my sister and me in matching unitards, collars around our necks as we stand in a metal box comes to mind. The image of being a prisoner, a pet, a slave, causes me disgust, and seeing my sister in the same position draws from me an anger I've never felt before. "NOW!" The energy I'd summoned was too much for Lauren to control entirely, as the entire front cab of the transport truck was ripped apart, the driver and guard too, the debris thrown against the other vehicles as the transport van, now missing an engine and it's two front tires, grinds to a stop. "Dead on target. Damn, we're good. See you later sis." With a kiss on the top of her head, I race down the stairs, moving towards the soon-to-be battleground.

It is surprisingly hard to be both stealthy and fast, so I gave up on speed, preferring to be a little late than dead. Hiding around a corner as I see Trader's shimmering silhouette as he scampers down the footpath alongside the Sentinel guards. Drawing a knife from my deep hoodie pocket, I lean out, catching one of them by surprise, stabbing him through the chin and into his skull, twisting and pulling the blade quickly and dragging him around the corner with me. Grabbing his bulletproof vest, and sidearm, just in case.

'Why are these vests so annoying to put on?' I watch as Trader, having been spotted, quickly draws and fires on the agent, putting him down quickly as he runs for cover. 'Another life saved, go me.'

Two agents attempt to pin him, surrounding each side of the car he's hiding behind, and while Trader hadn't noticed the one to his left, I had.

*Bang*

"Ahh Fuck, there's another one somewhere," the agent I'd shot had only received a flesh wound, taking the round in the arm. 'I knew I'd miss with a gun. I fucking knew it.'

Trader, running past the agent's now dead buddy, flanked the injured guard, emptying two rounds into him. Moving up to join him he hisses at me, "What are you doing here!? Our powers aren't working and we can't protect you."

"Your powers aren't working because of him," I point, directing his gaze to the brainwashed Pulse, garbed in Sentinel gear. "So shoot him," I say passing him my gun as I pick up the two left by the guards.

*Bang Bang Bang Bang!* "Sweet, I was a little worried you were going to whiff every shot."

"Kid, I'm gonna kick your ass when this is done."

"Fair enough."

Slamming the cops against the cars they were using as cover against Eclipse, John and Dreamer, who'd all packed heat at my insistence. 'After all that whining from them I bet they're glad they listened now.' Eclipse moved to burn through the lock on the door of the plastic prisoner section, freeing her from the buckles and straps. While they were being overly intimate in the back of the van, John and Trader had beaten down the already injured and stunned guards that had survived.

"What happened with our powers?" Marcos asked concerned.

"That guy," I point towards Pulse's barely conscious body.

"Pulse!" John runs to him so quickly that I questioned whether his mutation was like Quicksilver's. I fetch the straps that had been used to buckle and strap down Lorna and wrap it around the bleeding leg. "Smart thinking, if he's alive, he can tell us why he changed sides."

"Huh…interesting tattoo," I remark, drawing their attention to it as I search for Jace Turner. 'Where is he, where, where, where, found him.' Unconscious on the floor I find him, infured from the truck's debris and from me bashing him against his car like a ragdoll, I grab some handcuffs, remove his phone, radio and any other digital device or electronic object, and drag him to the others. "What? I don't have super strength like John."

"I'm more interested in why you want to bring him."

"I don't. I want Miss Dreamer to look through his memories, carefully, and without leaving damage to him."

"Why would you think he has information?

"And why would you care if his head gets messed up? Lorna asks.

"One, he was their shot-caller, and Two, because destroying people's minds when you don't have to is wrong, what if he has a valid reason for being an agent?"

"Is there a valid reason for being a genocidal maniac?"

"Plenty. For my family, I would kill everyone who plans us harm, maybe he's the same." Lorna, begrudgingly shut up, allowing Dreamer to take her time and draw out information smoothly.

John, now carrying Pulse, called us to action, "We need to go, Marcos and Lorna, take that car and meet us there." Sitting in the back with a bloody Pulse was not exhilarating by any stretch of the word, but being crushed in a hug by my sister as she picked up Dreamer to do the same as Marcos was nice, if painful.

"Crashing, hit a wall

Right now, I need a miracle

Hurry up now, I need a miracle"

John interrupts the radio and immediately begins to remind me of Professor X. "Why were you still there?"

"Umm, because I figured I could probably help in some way, and considering that Trader is alive still, I'd say that's a success," earning a snort from the man riding shotgun.

"I'll get you a box of soda."

"Add some chocolate for pointing out Pulse, and that's a deal."

With a shake of hands, a deal was struck as John sat stumped. "That doesn't answer the question, why did you want to help?"

"Because my benefactor's baby momma was stuck sitting like a duck in a combat zone, and helping pregnant women is a good thing. Call it my good deed for the day."

"Are you okay? You're too okay for this situation, you shouldn't have been exposed to that. No kid should."

"I'm fine, and I probably am in some kind of shock, after all, today was the first time I killed someone and the first time I fired a gun. I mean, I killed 3 people directly, that I know of, and yet, I don't feel much. So yeah, definitely in shock I think, based on some of the tv shows I used to watch with Lauren." Leaning my head against the window, I close my eyes, hoping the 2-hour drive will let me sleep and rest.

I wake up to the door slamming shut, Tracker and John having hopped out and pulled my backseat buddy from the car. "Andy!" 'God that woman is loud.' Meeting her in a hug as she embraces me I groan, the surge of adrenaline from the fight, wearing me out more than I expected.

"Oh my God are you hurt?"

"What? No." Looking down at where she was examining, I realised her thought process. "The blood on the vest's not mine, I grabbed the vest off some guy. Figured it could be useful." I could practically hear John groan behind me for not realising that earlier and stripping the rest of them.

"Why's there blood all over your hands?"

"From…tying a tourniquet on that guy. No, I shouldn't lie to you, and seeing as you'll freak out sooner or later. This is from the guard that I killed, whose vest I'm wearing, and whose gun I used to save Trader's life."

"Oh my lord, Andy you shouldn't have been there, I shouldn't have let you-"

"If you continue acting like fighting for my life, for my freedom and rights is anything OTHER than my new normal, the normal of every mutant here, I won't be able to put up with you." She was distraught but I forced myself to continue, 'I need to hurt her just enough to realise reality, and cast aside her faith in criminal laws, and our normal human life.' "We fight, or we die. Listen to the stories of the mutants we're living with. Actually, listen and you'll realise the situation."

Turning to Dad who was shocked at my treatment of Caitlyn, I ask, "When Lauren shows up can you send her to me, and if she refuses, tell her that I killed the 2 men, not her. My power is destruction, she just brings things together."

Seeking the not-so-warm, and not-very-comfortable cot I call mine, I fall asleep in moments, even as everyone celebrates the successful mission with no casualties. I stir momentarily to feel something warm cuddled beside me in bed. 'Probably Lauren,' I guess, understanding the guilt she must feel.

POV- Lorna/Polaris

I'd been hoping for a rescue for days, and finding out they were planning on moving me to a secret secure facility was daunting, but what hurt was knowing that they'd take my child from me. 'Please, Marcos. Find me.'

*BRRZKZKT*

The sound of ripping metal hangs in the air a moment before I'm slammed into the chair, now seated on an angle. The guards next to me are panicking, and the screams from outside seep in through the door. Gunshots and screams continue to come through as the guards meant to stay inside the van leave to help their genocidal, mutant-hating buddies. Through the now open door, I can see Trader and some kid, both armed, before the kid slams every guard into the cars they've been using to shield themselves. Knowing Trader is here, I relax, knowing Marcos will be moments behind.

I'm proven right by the rapid footsteps approaching me, before Marcos jumps into the back of the van, the brightest smile I've ever seen on his face the second his eyes met mine. "Mind getting me out babe?"

"That was the plan." Melting through the plastic locks and cutting some of the straps used to bind me, I leapt into his arms, our lips meeting as our hearts and bodies celebrated the reunion.

Breaking for air, he smiles again, his hands never leaving mine, "I have to tell you a few things once we get back, not all of them good."

Rolling my eyes at his comment I groan, "When is it ever ALL good? Who's the kid?"

"He's new, but he and his sister are mutants, and both parents while human have been helping however they can. I need you to promise not to attack the Dad though, at least not in front of the kid. He brought down a gymnasium by ACCIDENT, and he's smarter than he looks." I was a little surprised by this, as it would mean that he was an extremely powerful mutant, and thus it was likely his sister was too.

"Why would I attack him?"

"He used to be a prosecutor. But he gave us information on your case, and the kid helped us find out where you were being moved to, and he and his sister stopped the truck from over 100 metres away."

I can't lie, I was pissed. The amount of suffering the man has supported must be immeasurable, but if it was true that he was helping us, then I couldn't ignore his use. Not to mention he must have the biggest set of balls in the states walking into the MU as an ex-prosecutor. "Fine, what's their names?"

"The kids are Andy and Lauren Strucker, and the nurse and prosecutor are Caitlyn and Reed Strucker."

"THAT fucker? He was the one who came to see me and …"

"Told you that you were pregnant?" I nod, the words unable to escape me. "We can talk about everything on the way back," he says sweetly, guiding me out like a gentleman as we watch the kid, Andy dragging one of the Agents towards Dreamer. Listening to his explanations I admit the kid is logical, smart and compassionate, a stark contrast to the blood all over his hands. 'As long as he is on our side, I don't think we'll have a problem, especially after seeing the truck from the outside. The entire front end of the van had been ripped into pieces, engine and parts included. The sheer power that must take, especially at that distance is daunting. Even for me that would be quite the effort and would take a lot of time, while they did it in a mere moment, based on the sounds I heard. A pair of monsters.'

POV- Andy

Waking up, I see and feel hands draping over me, with a quick glance over my shoulder revealing them to be Lauren's. Carefully escaping the clingy koala, I sit up and think over yesterday, the warm squirt of blood down my hand as I ran a knife through a man's skull. The two guards in the front of the truck ripped apart like they'd been put in a blender, scattered everywhere around them, with pieces hitting cars and staining the road and walls a dark red. I felt sick, literally. Diving outside, glad for being on the first floor, I get to the grass before my stomach empties its contents out my mouth. Again, and again until nothing more than bile follows as I retch, tears in my eyes, not just because of the act of throwing up, but understanding that I killed people. I ended lives, futures, maybe families. I can feel someone watching me, and I look up briefly to see Marcos looking at me empathetically, understanding my situation, having had felt the same when he first killed, many years ago.

"You're up," I hear, Marcos' light accent lingering in my ears as I watch him approach.

"Apparently, what's up?" I say, trying to steady my breathing and stand up a little straighter.

"Just wanted to check in on you."

"If you're worried about me feeling guilty, stop. I know that I'll need to kill, I just need to adapt. My family does too." A silence lingered before I continued, "When I said I would kill for my family, I meant it. And for as long as you are protecting my family, you're included. I just didn't expect it to be so…"

"Easy?" Nailing it in one Marcos sighs, patting me on the back lightly. "Our powers, and yours especially, have great potential to do harm, and so taking lives can be almost effortless. John would probably be able to explain this better, but he used to describe the horrors of war and the people he killed, and he's still a good person. No matter what you've done, the people you put down, be yourself and protect your family, is what John told me, and I agree." Standing up he looks at me softly, "Thanks kid, for helping with Lorna."

"Expect a retaliation from Sentinel Services."

"I would, but they don't know where we are."

"But they know where some of your allies and supporters are…"

"Fuck." He races back into the HQ and I hear his muffled yelling. 'I wonder how many lives I saved by telling him in advance?' My good deed of the day is done and it's barely dawn. Win.' Looking down at the pile of sick I feel lethargic. "First, food. No coffee first, then food." 'That is definitely the better order.'