Recovery

[Pyro]

Time passed.

It has a habit of doing that if you're not paying any attention.

John slept fitfully for a solid five hours, during which time Python periodically checked his temperature. The injury he had sustained didn't appear to have got infected and the boy was not growing at all feverish. There was a lot to be said for the differences in mutant physiology at times. It did appear to make people a little stronger, a little more resilient than your average homo sapiens.

Python happily ate everything that Jane set in front of him and disappeared at one point to buy some basics from the nearest shop for her. When he returned, he'd commandeered the small television that Jane owned and was channel hopping on the Juggernaut's 'request' looking for football.

It was whilst they were so engaged that John woke up, bleary eyed and more than a little confused. Once he had fully woken, however, he sat up.

Carefully.

"What time is it?" he said, his tongue feeling fuzzy and strange.

"Just past eight in the evening," came the reply from Python, who didn't even look around to deliver the words. "Feelin' better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

John rubbed at his eyes and looked around the apartment until his eyes rested on Jane.

"Who are you?" he said, then hesitated, and added a rather grudging-sounding "Thanks."

[Juggers]

Cain sat on the floor occasionally glancing at the television as it jumped from one station to the next. As was usually the case with British terrestrial television there was sod all worth watching. He turned his attention to the safe.

He tinkered with the dial and bolt lever for awhile before accepting that he was not going to be able to open it in the conventional manner. He stood, balled up a fist and gave the thick door a mighty thump.

Metal buckled with a tortured shriek and a pair of broken hinge pins spun across the room.

"Oops," The Juggernaut muttered and grinned.

He grabbed the edges of what remained of the door and heaved it out of its frame. A bounty of cash lay within.

"Score!" Cain exclaimed and waved a fat wad of cash at his companions.

At that point Python's channel surfing arrived at the evening news.

" ... Halifax was destroyed today in a mutant attack. Eye-witness accounts and CCTV footage have revealed that two of the perpetrators to be members of the infamous Brotherhood, thought disbanded after the recent loss of their leader during a confrontation in San Francisco."

A poor quality picture of Pyro flashed up onto the screen complete with name and codename, followed by a worse one of the Juggernaut. It was followed by a third image of Python.

"The identity of the third mutant remains a mystery but the authorities are already following up on possible leads. Police are also eager to speak with this young lady," a CCTV image of Jane, "and welcome any information on her where-abouts. If you see any of these individuals do NOT approach them, they are to be considered extremely dangerous and you should contact the Police immediately."

"Hey, Pyro, we're famous!" Cain grinned, "shit picture of me though, they didn't get my good side ... "

[Jane]

Not knowing whether someone was going to wake up was, Jane decided, misrepresented on General Hospital. (Not that she ever watched it, of course. Never.) It wasn't constantly nerve-wracking. Well, maybe if you were married to the person in question, but still. It was only occasionally nerve-wracking. Mostly it was just sort of uncomfortably worrying. Maybe she'd write a letter to the producer to stop being quite so dramatic.

But it was a TV drama, so.

Jane chewed thoughtfully on the last of her second hamburger, savoring the protein. She always got a little ravenous after she overexerted herself, but she was feeling herself coming back a little and was beginning to entertain the notion of maybe bypassing the crash, just as long as she didn't have to move or anything.

Actually, all in all, things were looking up. They'd gone several hours without anyone beating down the door and shouting their Miranda Rights, she hadn't had to go to the store herself this time, and John, or Pyro, or whatever he went by, wasn't heating up. Even if she had to deal with the requisite male tendency never to pick one station but watch all, in this case, eight, at once (WHY? WHY?), it wasn't quite as bad a day as it could've been.

She flinched as the Juggernaut finally gave up on the combination lock, hoping her thin walls were strong enough to keep it quiet, or (slightly more logically) that no one would care.

Maybe she could ask for a cut. It wasn't like she hadn't earned at least something for patching up Mr. Great Things Await Him, or whatever Python had said.

Pyro. Pyyyyyro. Where did she know that name from?

"I do have a TV Guide somewhere," Jane said at long last from the countertop where she was still situated (well, resituated, since she'd changed into a white sweater, this one slightly too small instead of her earlier four sizes too large, and new jeans and gloves after they were sure Pyro wasn't going to die), the couch having been comandeered early and the one other chair taken over for channel-flipping purposes. "And I think you've been through them all at least thirty times. You may have to prepare yourself for the fact that there isn't any football on."

"What time is it?"

Hey, it was alive. Jane glanced over at the invalid, who appeared to have come down at last.

"Who are you?"

Okay then. "Jane," she said simply, feeling that launching into a dramatic retelling would be a little much, especially since he'd just woken up.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." No problem just wouldn't have been accurate.

" ... Halifax was destroyed today in a mutant attack. Eye-witness accounts and CCTV footage have revealed that two of the perpetrators to be members of the infamous Brotherhood, thought disbanded after the recent loss of their leader during a confrontation in San Francisco."

The Brotherhood?

Well, that explained where she'd heard the name.

She turned with renewed interest to the kid - Pyro, St. John Allerdyce, Mr. I Torched Alcatraz himself, and then the Juggernaut, who Magneto had freed himself from that ripped-up convoy that had been all over the news right before the whole Cure thing. Maybe she could come out of this with more than just a cut. "Brotherhood?" she asked the kid, eyeing him with slightly less pseudo-motherly worry and a little more respect. It was hard to respect someone properly, after all, when they were bleeding on you. Or your couch.

"The identity of the third mutant remains a mystery but the authorities are already following up on possible leads. Police are also eager to speak with this young lady..."

Shit. Shit. Jane's face slackened into dumbstruck horror at the grainy footage of her own face as she seemingly ran towards the camera - it must've been near the hole, to get her face full-on like that, and in so much detail... she covered her mouth with one gloved hand as her stomach seemed to fill with rocks and sink through her abdomen, closing her eyes and trying to think straight.

"...and welcome any information on her where-abouts. If you see any of these individuals do NOT approach them, they are to be considered extremely dangerous and you should contact the Police immediately."

"Hey, Pyro, we're famous! Shit picture of me though, they didn't get my good side ... "

"Oh, Jesus," Jane whispered into her hand, trying not to be sick.

Bad day. Bad, bad, bad day.

[Pyro]

"Oh, Jesus," the woman who had identified herself as Jane was saying, whilst the Juggernaut was saying something about being famous. John temporarily blocked them both out and concentrated on what the news reader was saying.

"...anything but disbanded. US troops, who had long since assumed that the Brotherhood were disbanded following the events on Alcatraz Island are tonight on major alert following several pro-Brotherhood demonstrations. If the survivors wanted to get their message out to the masses, then they went the right way about it. In other news..."

Python stared at John. "This was actually what you wanted to happen, wasn't it?" He surveyed the young man with a renewed sense of respect. "The bank robbery was just a cover behind which you could hide whilst letting people know that the Brotherhood are still going, right?"

John shrugged, then discovered that shrugging wasn't a good thing to do with a wounded shoulder. "I figured that if we hit one of the main countries, our little shindig would make world news, et voila, instant advertising."

"Good plan," Python said in admiration. "Hey, Juggs, whaddya reckon? Our little Pyro is growing up and making plans!"

John grinned a little. To Jane he said, "I'm kinda sorry you got caught up in this. That was never part of the plan. Rest assured, you'll get a share of the cash for your troubles."

[Juggers]

The Juggernaut grinned and tossed a pack of fifties at the reclining Pyro. "Not too shabby," he complimented.

He scooped the cash from the safe with one hand and deposited it on the floor for all to see. It looked to be a sizable sum; hundreds of thousands at least, all in neat bundles of twenties and fifties.

"No more Pot-Noodles for us," Cain rejoiced, "we've got enough 'ere to fill that cold-store, stock the fridge, fuel the generator and ... " he paused to ponder what Genosha really needed, "get some sorta cleaner!"

He glanced over at the girl - Jane, he'd actually bothered to memorise her name. It didn't look like she was taking to her new found notoriety too well. She was muttering into her hands and looked decidedly ill. Probably. It was difficult for Cain to tell. She had gone a few shades lighter though and he didn't imagine that was a good sign.

He tossed a wad of twenties from hand to hand thoughtfully before lobbing the pack of cash to the girl with a cheerful smile, "have a sniff, there ain't no better cure!"

[Pyro]

Almost absently, John flicked through the wad of cash. "All of the above," he murmured. "However, we need to do whatever needs to be done with stolen money. I imagine all of these will be marked, now." He threw the money back at the Juggernaut and got to his feet rather carefully.

It was perhaps fortunate for him that he was so close to the sofa because his knees immediately buckled underneath him again and he sat down heavily. This caused him to jar his shoulder painfully, which in turn caused him to start swearing quite vociferously. After his little tirade was over, and after a worried, cursory once-over from Python indicated that it was merely blood loss and exhaustion that had left him so weak, he glanced from Jane to Python to the Juggernaut.

"OK," he said, his voice tired. "The situation: we're now wanted men - and woman - in this country. We need to get back to the airport and out of here as quickly as possible and back home. We should probably swing via New York, which is where I told Sekhmet to go and pick her up, but we'll check that out once we can radio home. We've got several thousand pounds worth of cash in Sterling that we need to deal with to turn into the kind of currency that'll buy us anything - Python, you know everyone and everything in the entire world, you're on that, right?"

"Right you are, Boss. Let me make a few calls..." Python flipped out his mobile and was already on the case before John even finished his sentence.

"Juggs," he said, using Python's nickname for the big man. "You got any thoughts on the best way out of here?" In a quieter voice, he added, "And we'd better factor Jane into the plan as well - I reckon as her staying here might not be the best thing for anybody."

[Jane]

Jane hadn't known you could be a victim of bad PR in such violent, possible-arrest-inducing ways. It had always been just kind of an expression.

The thing now was that there was nowhere she'd really be safe. Mutant bank heists would be televised all over the world, and she was, after all, green. Too noticeable. She'd have to hide every season but winter, and there was no way she could survive doing that. She'd go stir-crazy if she could somehow even make enough to support herself.

Catch-22. And now they were LOBBING THINGS AT HER HED AUGH except it was money, okay then.

"I'm kinda sorry you got caught up in this. That was never part of the plan. Rest assured, you'll get a share of the cash for your troubles."

"I hope the Port Authority takes pound sterling," Jane said mulishly.

"Have a sniff, there ain't no better cure!"

Jane looked up at the Juggernaut, who was doing his best impression of a cheery smile. She was tempted to punch him, except that if he repelled bullets, he'd probably break her hand. And then the rest of her in retaliation.

She looked back down at the little pile in her lap, running a finger across the edge of the stack, estimating in her head. Two or three thousand - at the very least. "Thanks," she said, sounding eerily as ungrateful as Pyro had just minutes before.

"However, we need to do whatever needs to be done with stolen money. I imagine all of these will be marked, now."

Money-laundering. Jane knew how to do it, but she damn well wasn't goign to tell them. Grrr.

She immediately felt bad when John's knees buckled out from under him, sending him back down onto the couch as soon as he tried to get up. Jane's hand flexed involuntarily, and she glanced over at his bandage, trying to estimate whether he'd ripped his clot open again or not.

"OK. The situation: we're now wanted men - and woman - in this country. We need to get back to the airport and out of here as quickly as possible and back home. We should probably swing via New York, which is where I told Sekhmet to go and pick her up, but we'll check that out once we can radio home. We've got several thousand pounds worth of cash in Sterling that we need to deal with to turn into the kind of currency that'll buy us anything - Python, you know everyone and everything in the entire world, you're on that, right?"

"Right you are, Boss. Let me make a few calls..."

Damn. She didn't get to withhold useful information now.

"Juggs."

AH HA HA HA HA. Jane giggled into her hand and stifled it as quickly as possible, not wanting to be crushed or mauled or anything unpleasant.

"You got any thoughts on the best way out of here? And we'd better factor Jane into the plan as well - I reckon as her staying here might not be the best thing for anybody."

Despite the fact that his voice got quieter, Jane was not, in fact, deaf. "I'd really like not to go to jail," she said, feeling vaguely unhelpful. "Can I go with you guys? Since I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to blend seamlessly into any native populations anytime soon, you know."

She smiled, forcedly charming. It had been her fault she'd stopped and helped them out, after all, but she wasn't going to actually admit that for now.

[Pyro]

"I'd really like not to go to jail."

John blinked and turned to look at her appraisingly. Despite his youth, he'd spent a few nights in cells when he'd been a lot younger. Before he'd landed at Xavier's. Going to jail was not exactly spending time in the lap of luxury.

"No shit," he murmured. "I bet you wouldn't."

"Can I go with you guys? Since I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to blend seamlessly into any native populations anytime soon, you know."

John blinked again. His thought had been to get Jane to safety, but now, here she was, actually asking if she could come with them. Well, he'd set out on a recruitment drive, hadn't he? And she'd proven that she was capable and able...

But still...

Rather randomly, John found himself wondering what qualities Magneto had looked for in his recruits. A willingness, certainly, and a belief in one's self. Jane had both of those in spades. But still...

But still...

He caught Python looking at him in a strangely oblique way. It added precisely nothing to his little personal dilemma.

"It's a pretty tough life," he said. "We're stuck out in the back end of beyond - or as the Juggernaut here likes to call it, the 'arse-end of nowhere' - we're pretty much 'in hiding', there aren't a lot of us left, not after Alcatraz..."

She was a girl.

The sudden realisation that was what was causing him to hesitate made John do something that very few people had ever seen him do.

He blushed.

Furiously.

[Jane]

"No shit. I bet you wouldn't."

Weird kid. Somehow, Jane had actually managed to avoid going to jail, mostly by thwacking her arresting officers in the face with large amounts of the local flora, but that was beside the point.

And now he was looking at her funny. While Python looked at him funny.

Er. Uncomfortable. Jane shifted in her seat, crossing her legs Indian-style and trying not to look too awkward.

"It's a pretty tough life. We're stuck out in the back end of beyond - or as the Juggernaut here likes to call it, the 'arse-end of nowhere' - we're pretty much 'in hiding', there aren't a lot of us left, not after Alcatraz..."

Well, what did she say to that? 'It's fine, I didn't leave my house or the backyard until I was barely younger than you'? 'Kansas is the arse-end of the arse-end of nowhere'? 'It ain't easy being green'?

"If you can't use me, it's fine," Jane said, the thought suddenly occuring with a small rush of dislike. She freaking pulled a bullet out of his arm, after all. "But I kind of... I grew - I'm used to it."

Mleh. It came out okay. Though he was blushing all of a sudden. "Are you okay?" she asked, a little concerned. "You're going red - do you feel warm? I hope you don't have a fever, that would mean you're infecting..."

[Pyro]

"Are you okay? You're going red - do you feel warm? I hope you don't have a fever, that would mean you're infecting..."

The Gods DAMN it, he was blushing. He hadn't blushed since he had been twelve years old. He felt his embarrassment quickly give way to anger, an emotion he was far more at home with. "It's fine," he said, shortly. "It wasn't about not being about to use you or anything, your talent seems pretty handy. It was just, well, I'm new at the whole being in charge thing."

Was it just his imagination, or did Python and the Juggernaut exchange knowing smirks?

This served to make him even angrier. Magneto's training kicked in, however, and he closed his eyes, letting the anger subside. He opened his eyes again and even managed a faint smile. "No, I'm fine. I'm just a bit warm. I'm...I'm an outside kinda guy, you know? Listen, ah, Jane - you're more than welcome to come with us, but you're gonna have to travel light. There's not a lot of time for packing and...stuff. Y'know." Packing. That thing that GIRLS are so good at.

"So - ah - if you want to come along, that's fine by me, and nobody else gets to usurp my say-so." So there.

[Jane]

"It's fine. It wasn't about not being about to use you or anything, your talent seems pretty handy. It was just, well, I'm new at the whole being in charge thing."

Well, he was like, 20. He'd better be. Jane shrugged and her smile became less vaguely-bitchy, leaning more towards the 'yay, I'm not goign to die surrounded by hookers and meth addicts' area.

What were the other two doing back there? Jane was lost. Screw it. She was going to ignore them. See how they liked THAT. Except that they didn't care.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a bit warm. I'm...I'm an outside kinda guy, you know? Listen, ah, Jane - you're more than welcome to come with us, but you're gonna have to travel light. There's not a lot of time for packing and...stuff. Y'know."

"...kay," Jane said. "I kind of figured. Being fugitives."

Outside kinda guy? You just got SHOT.

"So - ah - if you want to come along, that's fine by me, and nobody else gets to usurp my say-so."

Jane's lips twitched and she slid off the counter towards her bedroom to dig up what little clothing she actually owned. "Yes sir," she said, saluting before disappearing through the door, from whence a quit giggle could be heard.

It didn't take long to shove most of the contents of her dresser (read: ex-crate) into an old backpack along with a few CDs, basic bathroom junk, her survival tin (an old rusty tin box with a complicated latch containing disinfectant wipes, band-aids, a flashlight, tiny ten-minute flares, and a large, scary Bowie knife, along with random other bits and bats, including a very small tinned ham), and a few books. She even included the five-pound Gentleman's Guide to World Plant Life, which was good for figuring out exactly what she could do with her powers. Creating new things took on-the-spot creativity she sometimse couldn't do, and some things she just didn't think of - she hadn't known until she'd bought the Guide that she could make flesh-melting acid, for instance, thanks to certain breeds of algae.

She reemerged within a few minutes, heading back to her cabinets to figure out what was preservable and would live through extended battering. "We should probably go, if we're going to," she said, tucking the quarter-loaf of bread she had left in, just in case. "I mean. Someone's probably turned me in by now, so Liverpool's finest'll probably be around soon."

[Pyro]

"We should probably go, if we're going to. I mean. Someone's probably turned me in by now, so Liverpool's finest'll probably be around soon."

During her brief absence into the bedroom, it was more than evident that Python had sorted something out, because he was off the phone again. The Juggernaut was shoving the wads of cash into an assortment of mis-matched carrier bags and a falling-apart old holdall that he'd found. The latter was oddly amusing: every time he thrust notes into it, several would fall out the hole, which Python would pick up and absently stuff into his overcoat pocket.

The kid, meanwhile, was still sitting on the sofa, his eyes closed, his face a little white and pained, but definitely no longer blushing and definitely no longer acting like a little kid whose favourite toy had just been taken away. When she spoke, he cracked one eye open and looked at her.

"As soon as we're done here, we're gone," he said, simply. "The Juggernaut's gonna leave the safe here and whatever cash we can't take with us. Just a couple of thousand would do us, but he insists on cramming as much as he can into those bags. It was never about the money." He stared out the window briefly. "Not to me, anyway."

Very, very slowly he got to his feet, swayed a little, grabbed onto the arm of the sofa as several stars circled his head and took a deep breath. "Man, I feel spaced out," he murmured.

"Can you walk, Pyro, or you gonna need help?" Python's feigned indifference didn't fool Jane any more. The thin man obviously had the kid's interests at heart.

"I can manage, but I can't rush. If it gets to a pinch, you guys have to get back to Genosha, OK?"

"Don't do the self-sacrificing hero shit, Allerdyce, it don't suit ya." Python said.

After he'd finished laughing, that was.

"I. Fucking. Hate. You," said John in an undertone. "Yeah, OK, I need help, alright?"

[Jane]

"As soon as we're done here, we're gone. The Juggernaut's gonna leave the safe here and whatever cash we can't take with us. Just a couple of thousand would do us, but he insists on cramming as much as he can into those bags. It was never about the money. Not to me, anyway."

Dumb kid. "You're gonna change your mind about that next time you start hurtin' for cash," Jane said, finishing with her fridge and going over to help with the money. It was hers now, too, sort of, and she felt somewhat responsible.

She knelt down next to the pile of money and the Juggernaut's holdall, stacking the little packets of cash neatly inside her bad to ensure she'd get the most out of the space. "You realize it has a hole in it, don't you?" she asked, almost absently.

"Man, I feel spaced out."

"That's because you're high."

"Can you walk, Pyro, or you gonna need help?"

"I can manage, but I can't rush. If it gets to a pinch, you guys have to get back to Genosha, OK?"

Jane snorted a little into one sleeve, grinning as she buckled her backpack closed, having got as much in as she could. "I think we'll have to leave the rest," she said. "There's some plastic bags under the sink if you really want to try, but I wouldn't trust 'em."

"I. Fucking. Hate. You. Yeah, OK, I need help, alright?"

Jane laughed outright at that. Aah, she remembered being his age. It was a dumbish age. "Y'all done here?"

[Pyro]

"Y'all done here?"

"You'd better believe it," said John, as Python wordlessly slid an arm around the kid's waist and propped him into a more upright position. It was faintly comical to watch given that Python was somewhere over six feet in height whilst John was about 5'9", 5'10". The good arm looked like it was being slowly wrenched from its socket, but the look on John's face broked no comment.

"We need to get down that fire escape again," said Python. "I suggest the lady - " Here, he indicated Jane - "should go first, then you and me, Boss, and Juggs last - just in case it can't take the strain. He stands a better chance of surviving a fall than the rest of us."

"Agreed," said John, who hadn't been conscious to know that there WAS a fire escape to start with. He glanced across at Jane and gave her a rather uncertain smile. "Welcome to the Brotherhood," he said, simply. "It's not much, but it's family. And we look out for each other."

The uncertain smile became one that was somehow more genuine and for the briefest of moments, the sullen, childish boy became strangely likeable.

It was brief, though.

Very brief.

[Jane]

"You'd better believe it."

"Mh," Jane said, trying not to laugh again as Python apparently attempted to dislocate the kid's other shoulder.

"We need to get down that fire escape again. I suggest the lady - "

Jane raised her eyebrows. She didn't feel very ladylike.

"should go first, then you and me, Boss, and Juggs last - just in case it can't take the strain. He stands a better chance of surviving a fall than the rest of us."

"Okay," Jane said. "If I kill it, either I can grow something big to get down or there's stairs through the front, but everyone'll see you."

"Agreed. Welcome to the Brotherhood. It's not much, but it's family. And we look out for each other."

Jane smiled back, feeling bizarrely nervous, realizing for the first time that she barely knew these people - and that she'd finally have a place to go that she wouldn't have to run from in a few months. It felt good.

"Thanks," she said, "really," before climbing back out the window and carefully onto the escape, feeling her way down it and trying to avoid weak patches and not trip where the Juggernaut had screwed up the metal. She made it down with only a three-foot jump from the bottom stair, since the last few were nigh well squished.

"It's safe," she called up. "Just be careful!"

[Juggers]

Cain sighed and peered down into the alley in time to see Python make the final bound to the ground. He looked back at what remained of the money. He grumbled. He looked back at the alley. Three faces looked back at him expectantly. From a safe distance.

Finally, he grabbed two handfuls of cash and stuffed as much as he could into his pockets before resigning himself to the perils of the death-trap fire-escape.

Several times throughout his life there had been occasions when the Juggernaut had known something was a REALLY bad idea and gone ahead with it anyway.

Street fighting had been one. He had known there was something wrong with him and that he should have kept a low profile, but the prize money was just so very tempting. That had ended very badly indeed.

Years later he had busted up a bank near Seattle and found military boys with funny looking weapons waiting for him. A little voice had said that taking them on was a REALLY bad idea. He was the unstoppable Juggernaut though, no toy soldiers were going to stop him. That had ended with him stuck in a mostly unbreakable box.

Now, as Cain stepped out on to the protesting walk-way a little voice said that this really wasn't a wise course of action. He went ahead with it anyway.

Three steps later there was a shriek of tortured metal and half a dozen bricks ripped loose from the wall. They crashed into the alley below in a small cloud of red dust.

"Uh, I ain't so sure this ... " he began. There was another groan and the fire escape started to sag alarmingly.

Cain gripped the hand rail which crumpled instantly under his weight, providing exactly no support.

"Ah BOLLOCKS!" He yelled as the third floor walk-way finally tore free of its moorings in a cascade of masonry. The entire structure wobbled precariously, the aging steel impossibly holding itself aloft for one, long second.

Then it collapsed.

The Juggernaut hit the alley in an explosion of concrete, metal and garbage and a small mushroom cloud of dust erupted into the air. Shattered rubble pattered down like hail and an overturned dustbin rolled from the debris.

A single twenty pound note fluttered to the ground incongruously amidst the carnage.

Silence fell.

From somewhere beneath the wreckage a muffled voice rumbled.

"Fuckin' horse shit fuckin' bollocks fuckin' ... " the stream of abuse went on.

[Pyro]

[ Continues in thread Retreat ]