The X-Men: New Additions - Part 12

Author:  Stacy Ricco

 
    Alex woke two hours later than usual. She thought it quite strange. She always woke after three hours of sleep, unless she was severely injured. She lay there pondering the unusual happening when her stomach rumbled. She went running for the bathroom. Her stomach emptied what little it held. She wiped her mouth and sat there kneeling in the bathroom. Her stomach heaved again and she leaned over the toilet.
Twenty minutes later she returned to the bedroom and laid down.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Just a little sick."
"Something wrong?"
"Probably something I ate."
"You sure darlin'?"
"Think so."
"Perhaps you should…"
"No Logan. I'm not going down to bother Hank with an upset stomach."
"How about you go down if you don't feel better by this afternoon?"
She just nodded. Her stomach rumbled again and she ran for the bathroom.

She came out ten minutes later. Logan looked at her. Dark circles were present under her eyes and her face looked a little drawn. She had been pushing herself in the past two weeks since Hank had cleared her for active duty. Logan knew she should take a day or two off of training to rest, but he had to think of a way to get her to do it without confronting her about it. That was the tough part. When she wanted to, Alex could be as stubborn as a mule. They had clashed a few times about some things and had some pretty heated discussions. Logan won about half the "discussions".
"Ya know I was thinkin', while it's been quiet around here lately so why don't we go into the city for a few days? We could do some holiday shopping and enjoy the sights."
The alarm started to sound.
"All active X-men please report to the hangar bay," Scott yelled through the intercom.
"You were saying about things being quiet?"
Logan grunted and they both threw their uniforms on and went running from the room. Meph stretched out on the now vacant bed.

   
    The Blackbird took off from the hangar bay ten minutes later. Most of the occupants were rubbing sleep out of their eyes and yawning.
"What's up?" Bobby said in the middle of a yawn.
"There seems to be a high level of mutant activity in the Australian Outback," Scott said as he made his way to the back of the plane where the team was sitting.
"What kind of activity?" Beast asked.
"We're not sure, but we're going to check it out."
Alex tried to listen to the conversation, but she was distracted by the flip-flops her stomach was doing. She pulled out a candybar and hoped that it would help settle her stomach.
"Alex are you okay?"
"Yes Sam. My stomach is a little upset this morning."
Sam just nodded.
Alex leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She tried to meditate in an effort to focus on the mission. Her stomach distracted her enough that she couldn't meditate. Alex's stomach was queasy for the whole flight, but thankfully she didn't get sick. She did get sick as soon as she exited the plane. She ran off to the side and emptied the contents of her stomach. Logan just watched her with a wary eye.
"You going to be all right?" Scott asked when Alex rejoined the rest of the X-men.
"I should be."
Alex looked around. They were in the middle of the rugged Australian Outback. The land was dotted with small bushes, rocks and dirt. A small bunker like building sat off in the distance. Scott looked at everyone and nodded. They started to break off into the two teams. Alex and Logan were strategically placed on different teams.
"Take care of yourself darlin'."
"You too Logan," she called after him.

    Alex, Storm, Gambit, Sam, Cecilia and Marrow started off toward the bunker. They were given the job of investigating the bunker while the other team investigated the surrounding area. They formed three pairs and spread out. Alex was paired up Marrow. Alex really didn't know the young girl that well, but Alex figured this was a chance to get to know her.
Alex had observed that Marrow had the raw emotional energy, but need discipline to temper it. Perhaps Alex might start working with her when they got back from this mission. Alex pushed the thought to the back of her mind and focused on the job ahead.
The bunker looked deserted, but appearances could be deceiving. Alex noted the security cameras attached to the two visible corners of the building. Whoever was inside probably knew that they were coming. Alex tapped Marrow on the shoulder. Marrow turned quickly and went into a defensive stance. Alex put her hands up, palms facing outward in attempt to show Marrow she meant no harm. Alex nodded toward the bunker and set out at a trot. Marrow quickly followed her. They reached the front door. Alex tried the knob and it was locked. She saw an electronic number pad next to the door. Alex put her hand over it and sent energy into it. Sparks started to fly and a small click of the lock being released was heard. Alex pulled the door open. The door opened to reveal a black corridor. Alex took the lead and motioned Marrow to follow. The two of them made no sound and they cautiously walked down the corridor. The door shut behind them and the entire corridor was cast into absolute darkness. Alex's eyes switch to the infrared and she could see the heat patterns of the things around her. The corridor stretch out for what seemed to be about few hundred feet and then stopped abruptly. Alex looked back to check on Marrow. The young girl stood there trying to feel around for the walls. Alex reached back and grabbed one of Marrow's hands. Marrow went into that defensive stance.
"Relax," Alex commanded. "Put your hand on my shoulder and I'll lead the way."
Marrow complied without so much as a word.
They walked slowly down the corridor and came to the end. There were no other corridors or doors.
"This is…" Alex started to say when the floor dropped out from under her.

    Logan and the rest of Scott's team had the job of checking out the surrounding area. It didn't take them too long. The area all around the bunker was flat and stretched for miles. They quickly made a sweep of the immediate area and all met back at the rear of the bunker. Scott tried the door and it opened. Storm's team was already inside of the building and probably left the door open for them. Logan entered first and found a brightly-lit corridor. He cautiously started to walk down the corridor. A few doors lined the hallway. He tried the first door on his right. It was some sort of storage room. He shut the door and moved on to the next one on his left. He opened it. It was an empty room. He shut the door and saw Alex walking down the hallway toward him.
"Alex. Find anything?"
She shook her head. She stopped in front of him.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Downstairs."
"Let's go find them." The rest of Logan's team had caught up to Logan and Alex by now. They followed Alex down the stairs at the end of the hallway. They reached the bottom of the stairs and found the rest of Storm's team.
"Find anything Storm?"
"No Scott. It looks like this place has been abandoned. We're too late."
"Anyone have any idea what this place is?"
Logan walked around the room and sniffed. He smelled a familiar scent.
"One of Sinister's labs."
"If it is then where is he?"
"Probably left before we got here, Scott."
"I just don't get it. Why would he cause an incident to drag us all the way out here and then not confront us?"
"Who questions anything that madman does?" Bobby said juggling some snowballs.
"Slim's right. There has to be a reason why he brought us out here."
Marrow walked over to where Alex was standing.
"Where'd ya go? Think it was funny leaving me all alone in that darkness?" Marrow said getting into Alex's face.
"I fell into a trap door. I eventually made my way out and met up with the other team."
"Likely excuse," Marrow said and walked off. Logan had watched the whole exchange. Alex would have added that part when he asked her if she found anything. Something wasn't right.
"Let's look around a little bit more and then we'll head out of here."
"Sure Scott," they all said and started to explore the bottom floor some more.
Logan teamed up with Alex.
"You've givin' any more thought to my suggestion?"
"Not really."
They explored a little more of the lower level. Logan found a stairway leading down.
"We might as well," he said to Alex and started down.
"Maybe we shouldn't."
"What?" he asked and turned around to stare at her.
"We should probably get back. I'm sure Scott wants to leave soon."
Bobby just came running up. "Come on you two. Scott wants to leave."
"See?" she asked Logan and started to follow Bobby.
Logan quietly followed them, keeping a close eye on Alex. He sniffed the air. Something about her scent wasn't right. It was Alex's scent, but at the same time it wasn't. He wasn't sure what to make of it. They headed back to the Blackbird and it no time at all they were on their way back to the mansion.

    Logan set the controls of the danger room and started the session. He entered the danger room and started facing the opponents he programmed. Logan came down to the danger room in an effort to clear his head and get out some frustrations. Alex had been acting very strangely since they returned from Australia. She barely spoke to Logan in the whole week that had past and she spent every night in her own room. She didn't even give Logan a reason for it. He immersed himself in the session and lost all track of time. He exited the danger room sometime later and headed upstairs. He passed the rec room and heard the tv on. He stuck his head inside the door and found Alex watching the tv. Logan found this peculiar, but shook it off and dismissed it as a phase and headed upstairs to take a shower.
Logan thought about Alex in the shower. He knew she had been keeping to her room most of the time in the past week and Meph wouldn't even go near her. Every time that Logan tried to return Meph to Alex's room, he would hiss and run down the hall and back into Logan's room. Logan knew something was different or strange with Alex but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Logan went to bed early that night, but had a hard time falling asleep. He tossed and turned for an hour and a half before he finally was able to fall asleep.

    Alex looked at the mansion and sighed. She made the long walk up the drive and opened the front door. The mansion seemed quiet and it looked like no one was home. She could feel the presence of the X-men somewhere from below the mansion. They were probably involved in a danger room session. She quietly made her way down to the lower levels of the mansion.
She opened the door to the control room and found herself staring into the face of a mirror image of herself. She suddenly knew why she was captured and held prisoner. She launched herself at the woman who looked exactly like her. They struggled for a bit and then she threw the clone at the large window that overlooked the danger room. The glass gave way and the clone went through the window and sailing toward the floor below. Alex threw herself out of the window following the clone. She felt her body adjusting to the situation and she gently landed not far from the clone, who was just rising to her feet. Alex brushed off the shards of glass that were clinging to her and watched the clone. The rest of the X-men stood there in disbelief as they watched the two identical women. Logan stared at the two women and couldn't believe his eyes. He knew now why "Alex" was acting so strangely. He looked at the real Alex and could see the fury raging in her eyes.
    Alex watched the clone and wasn't surprised when a fireball came flying her way. Alex shot a blast of ice to negate the blast of fire. She produced a fireball of her own and launched it at the clone. The clone produced a similar blast of ice to negate the fireball. A bolt of pure energy came flying at Alex. She calmly watched it come toward her and let it hit her. Alex easily absorbed the energy and saw Logan starting to make a lunge at her. She waved him off and focused her attention on the clone. Alex sent a wave of psychic energy toward the clone. The clone threw up a psychic shield and Alex's wave bounced harmlessly off of it. Alex knew that this was going to be a tough fight. Alex watched the clone fade and eventually go completely invisible. Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She allowed her other senses to take over. Alex was always good at blind fighting.Alex sensed the attack a few seconds before it hit. She easy dodged the arm or leg that came out her. She took a tentative swing with a fist and didn't connect with anything. She knew she would have to level the playing field. She glanced at her forearm and saw that it was starting to fade. It only took a few seconds until she was completely invisible. The rest of the X-men didn't see the two women, but they did see bolts of energy, balls of fire, blasts of ice and bolts of electricity flying across the room. Logan had a good idea where the two women were, but really couldn't tell which one was which. Fifteen minutes had passed before the two women became visible again. Each had sweat running down their faces and each was breathing a little hard. Alex launched herself at the clone. Alex managed to connect with a fist on the clone's jaw and sent her flying backward into the wall. Alex watched the clone get up and start coming toward her. The clone landed a fist against Alex's jaw and Alex went flying though the air and landed on the floor with a thud. The breath was knocked from her lungs and she slowly stood up. She looked at the clone. The clone looked haggard and it looked like it would soon be out of the fight. Alex felt a little tired, but knew she could keep this up for an extended period of time. Alex launched herself at the clone and began hand-to-hand combat. Alex knew the clone didn't have nearly the experience in hand-to-hand fighting that Alex had.
In a few short minutes Alex had the clone down on the ground and was just about to finish her off.
"Alex no!" Scott shouted across the room after realizing what Alex was going to do.
"Stay out of this Scott!" Alex growled, never taking her attention away from the clone.
Alex placed her hands on the clone's temples and released energy into the woman's brain.
Scott was about to release an optic blast when Logan stepped in front of him blocking his shot. Logan extended a single claw and placed the tip under Scott's chin.
"This is her fight Slim."
Scott nodded ever so slightly and Logan retracted his claw.
Alex suddenly shouted, "I AM ALEXANDRA CATHERINE ELIZABETH…" and then whispered something that the X-men couldn't hear, except for Logan. Logan was a little shocked when he heard that word, but he didn't let it show on his face. He didn't know if it was true, but he was determined to find out.
Alex sent a large bolt of energy into the clone's head and the body went lifeless. Alex bent over and checked for a pulse and didn't find one. Alex knew that it wasn't going to be enough to kill the clone. In a savage move, Alex's hand grew razor sharp claws and she thrust her hand into the clone's chest. Alex grabbed the beating heart and in one swift motion yanked it out. She held it above the clone's chest for a brief moment and then tossed it on the floor next to the body. She casually wiped her hand off on her uniform and turned around to face the X-men. She slowly walked toward them, not saying a word. She didn't stop when she reached them, but continued out of the room and headed upstairs to get cleaned up.
Logan approached Hank sometime later and asked Hank if he could run a few tests for Logan. Hank agreed and then Logan headed upstairs to find Alex. Logan heard the water running in the bathroom and figured Alex was in the shower. A clean uniform lay on the bed along with clean undergarments. Meph scratched on the door to the bathroom, wanting to get in. Logan sat on the edge of the bed, lit a cigar and waited for Alex to emerge from the bathroom.
Ten minutes later the door to the bathroom opened and Alex emerge all wrapped in towels. She smiled when she saw Logan and reached down and picked up the black cat that had been scratching at the door. She took a minute or two and petted the cat and then set him back down on the floor.
"Scott wants all of us in the danger room in a half an hour to have you tell us what happened to you."
Alex just nodded and slowly approached Logan. When she reached him she bent over and kissed him passionately. Logan was a little surprised by the sudden kiss, but started to kiss her back after the surprise wore off. He broke the kiss, tossed his cigar into an ashtray and then began to kiss her once more. He pulled her down on top of him.
"We're going to be late for Scott's meeting," Alex mumbled between kisses.
"So?"
Alex grinned and began to kiss him once more.